The Old Firm

The discussion at work today was centred around the prospect of Celtic and Rangers joining the English league, Celtic Cheif Executive Peter Lawell has said Celtic would be happy to start at the bottom of English football with the future outcome being part of the Premiership.

I think the initial reaction of all Celtic fans, would be..NO WAY!!!!


After some more thinking I am really for the idea, I have always thought that Celtic and Rangers leaving the SPL would benefit everyone, from the SPL's point of view, it would instantly turn into and open league, with any of 4-6 teams winning it, thus giving 1 or 2 teams a chance in the Champions League, leading to bigger name players going to the league and those teams could become stronger over time, creating hopefully a better league, the trouble would come from the TV station not being as interested in striking a deal, I'm sure they could still acheive some kind of deal.

And Celtic and Rangers could realistically achieve promotion to the Premiership in at least 6 years, of course it would be very tough it first, what players would stay and who would jump ship, the big name europeans would leave, and probably the impressive British players would move on to Premiership/Championship teams.

They would have enough clot to bring in the best players from the SPL and League 1 etc, to advance up the leagues, Once they made it up to the Championship they would both have more money than they ever have had in the SPL, taking away Champions League income which I think would be offset by the owners who do have money behind them, but don't invest as much into the teams at the moment, as it's not an investment, but with the prospect of Premiership football on the horizon it would be worthwhile.

Dermot Desmond one of the Celtic board members is one of the richest men in Britain, and could quite easily help the backing of the team, Rangers are part owned by EINC who are also involved with Spurs, although the FA may have an issue with this, they could bankroll Rangers rise.
The question is always asked to me,


"How well do you think Celtic would do in the Premiership?"


I'd love it if there was a simple answer, but there's not, right now Celtic live of money from fans and european football, only receiving £2m for winning the SPL, so with that kind money, to be able to compete in the Champions League and Europa Cup, is an achievement, and with the team right now, we could compete in the Premiership, we would not be of the top 6 level, but I woudl think we would come between 11th and 16th, I don't think we would go down, or Rangers for that matter.

However once inducted into the English league after 4-5 years even be it, 2 years in the Championship and 3 years in the Premiership we would be up there challenging the European places.

With over £30m to spend each year, the Old Firm could attract players of a high standard, Glasgow is an attractive place to play, the Stadia and fan base is already in place, and both teams would prosper so much.

Another road block, is of course how they would enter the league, no matter where you put them, someone is not going to be happy, If they go straight in the EPL, every football league club would be furious, and if they entered at League 2, every non league club would let their feeling known.

Personally I think there will be a restructure of the EPL and Championship, and Celtic and Rangers would be involved, starting on the Championship plateau, ready and waiting to move up to the big boys.

Leeds United v Liverpool - 22nd September

This was requested by my friend and Leeds fan Matt.

Leeds: Higgs - Crowe, Kisnobo, Michalik, Hughes - Snodgrass, Howson, Doyle, Johnson - Becchio, Beckford
Liverpool: Cavalieri - Degen, Carragher, Krygiakos, Dossens - Spearing, Mascherano, Babel, Riera, Auerlio - N'gog

2 of the countries biggest teams met in the 3rd round of the English League Cup, 6 years ago this would have been an even bigger game, but Leeds are now in the third tier of English football, Rafa Benitez has already said he wants to win the Cup so a strong Liverpool team was expected, and for Leeds a chance to battle again with the big teams and recreate the glory days.

Living in Leeds myself you would expect I see alot of Simon Grayson's team, but I have only made my way to Elland Road once in 5 years, a mixture of the over priced tickets, and that my girlfriend is a Sheffield United way, big rivals of Leeds, so I was looking forward to seeing what sort of football Leeds could play, I have only watched them in the past years in the League Playoffs and time after time, they disappointed.

However they redeemed themselves in this match, playing some lovely flowing football, the midfield 4 were superb, some great 1-2, passing and moving, Doyle was a great force going forward, and the Man of the Match was Scotlands Richard Snodgrass was performance earning him a call up to the Scotland team to the upcoming friendly in Japan.

In defence Jason Kisnorbo was fantastic, the ex Hearts and Leicester centre dealt very well all night with David N'gog very rarely did Liverpool get past him.

It was Leeds front pair that disappointed, Luciano Becchio usually so impressive failed to get into the game, he ran hard but created little, the one moment he was involved in was a controversial one, Michalik got his head to the ball in the Liverpool box, it has flicked past Cavalieri, and Becchio made sure it went in, the Leeds fans went crazy but the Linesman lifted his flag and ruled both Becchio and Beckford offside, after numerous TV replays it was very very close, and in my opinion the goal should have stood, and with Leeds confidence high they could have went on to win.

The most disappointing player for me in the Leeds side was Jermaine Beckford, 27 league goals last season and 7 this season, if anyone was going to be Leeds catalyst it should have been Jermaine, but he failed to live up to the massive expectation on his shoulders, the 25yr forward was expected to move away from the Yorkshire club this summer but has stayed to again try and get Leeds promoted, as I have said I don't want Leeds every week, but in now 7 games I've seen Beckford play, only in 1 league game were he scored 2 goals was I impressed, in 4 playoff semi-finals and 1 playoff final in my eyes he disappeared, for the bigger teams watching him, I'm sure they've seen this too, and that would explain the lack of big money offers.

Beckford has the best of Leeds chances, an overhead kick went very close, and over the top pass found him through on goal and he couldn't finish.

Liverpool survived Leeds attacks and finally took the lead, Mascherano who was lucky to be on the field after an elbow to the back of Beckfords head was deemed an accident, lashed out to volley the ball, the wayward shot was controlled by N'gog he turned and finished calmly to put his team in the lead.

Until the goal, Liverpool never ever looked like scoring, although not their strongest team, and was in no way a full 2nd choice team, Carragher, Dossena, Mascherano, Riera all 1st team players, and the respect shown to Leeds increased when both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both came on to see out the match.

It was Liverpool that got the victory and move on the next round, but I'm very sure both sets of fans would have left with their heads held high.
Liverpool fans got a chance to see N'gog step up, the young Jay Spearing had a good match in the midfield and long time Injury victim Philip Degen had a good match.
Leeds showed they can play with the big teams and impress, there are no excuses for them not achieving promotion this season, no points deduction no managerial unrest, It's about time Leeds got back up to the higher tiers of English football.

Match Rating - 7/10

M.O.M - Richard Snodgrass - Leeds

Genoa v Napoli - September 13th

Second game of my Serie A Double Bill



Genoa: Amelia - Moretti, Biava, Criscito, Sokratis - Zapater, M.Rossi, Milanetto, Mesto - Sculli, Floccari

Napoli: De Sanctis - Campagnaro, Contini, P.Cannavaro - Aronica, Maggio, Pazienza, Cigarini, - Hamsik - Quagliarella, Lavezzi



Without doubt one of the best matches I've watched this season, the first time I've watched Napoli or Genoa since the 1990's, 5 goals 3 sending offs, really high quality football and introduced myself to some good players.

The Serie A fans I speak to have all said I need to watch Genoa and Napoli as they play some of the best football in Italy if not Europe, so when I saw on the schedule that ESPN were showing Genoa v Napoli Live, and although I couldn't watch it live, and recorded it and finally got round to watching the match.

The first half saw Genoa go down to 10 men, after Criscito was sent off for what I think was descent, then Napoli's Campagnaro was booked for his knee making contact with Amelia's head, a bit harsh I thought, just after this a lovely move for Napoli, Hamsik with a lovely 1-2 then a superb finish past Amelia, and Napoli looked in charge, that was until the 5th minute of injury time, a long ball over the top Floccari running onto it, Campagnaro was on him, he fell, not sure how much contact he made with the striker, Floccari went down and the referee had no doubt, pointed to the spot and showed Campagnaro a straight red, Floccari calmly stepped up and levelled the game, it was a shocking decision for me, Campagnaro did not bring him down, a case of the referee evening up the game.

The second half Genoa came out all guns blazing, and 10 mins in they took the lead, Mesto picked up the ball came in from the left and blasted a right foot shot into the top corner, tremendous goal, Palacio later raced away from the Napoli defence and set up Hernan Crespo for his first goal for Genoa, with 2 minutes to go Napoli went down to 9 men, ball was played into the box and Palacio dived for the header, the referee stopped the play pointed again to the spot, judging Aronica had pushed Palacio although no camera angle showed a push, Moroccan midfielder Kharja took the ball and finished the game.

Both team at some point played some great football, the players that stood up for me, for Genoa: Papastrathopoulos, Milanetto and Mesto, and for Napoli: Cannavaro and Hamsik.

The Genoa midfield impressed alot, Milanetto looked very solid, very calm on the ball showed leadership, good passing, always looking for the ball, a player I had never seen before but he looked quality, his teammate Papastrathopoulos otherwise known as Sokratis, it seems he started the game in defence but with Criscito being sent off, the team was shuffled round and he made his way into the midfield and he done very well, not only playing defensively but picking up the ball and moving forward and linking the play very well, seems a very versatile player, not quite sure myself what his natural position is. Mesto did very well for me on the left, looks naturally right football, superb goal, gave great width, got forward and tracked back. before I thought he was a LB, but showed he is very comfortable getting forward.

For Napoli Fabio's brother Paolo Cannavaro was solid in defence not helped by the sending off of Campagnaro and the at times very shaky Contini, not the biggest but was powerful in the air, good positioning a very strong leader of the team, Hamsik was Napoli's stand out player, I had heard about his ability and potential and he didn't disappoint, superb goal, but overall looked very dangerous, not content to stay in one position he was often found on the left or right and down the middle, hard to track, speed, touch, great skill, impressed in his first showing.

I will be trying to watch these 2 teams more, I think Napoli have more to show, but that win took Genoa joint top of the league so that shows their quality.




M.O.M - Omar Milanetto - Genoa

Match Rating 8.5/10

Lazio v Juventus - September 12th

Another catch-up game, finally finished watching this game this morning.

LAZIO v JUVENTUS

Lazio: Muslera - Siviglia, Diakite, Kolarov, Lichtsteiner - Baronio, Mauri, Dabo, Matuzalem - Foggia, Cruz
Juventus: Buffon - Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Grosso, Caceres - Melo, Marchisio, Camoranesi, Diego - Amauri, Trezeguet

If any game deserved the classic game of two halves line, it was this one, first half I thought it was a really good game, attacking and defending with quality from both sides, for the home side Kolarov was very impressive, bombing down the left hand side more like a winger than a left back, Foggia and Cruz didn't link up very well at all, Cruz looking very much like a lone striker.

For Juve, Amauri and Trezeguet played well in the first half, Amauri running the channels, David the predator, Diego had a very quiet first half, and disaster struck before halftime when he had to be stretchered off, with young talent Giovinco replacing him.


In the second half, the match kinda flipped, Kolarov failed to get up the left as much, but it was Lichtsteiner on the right who was the most forward of the full backs, Amauri and Trezeguet disappeared, but Foggia came to life trying to get his team back in the game, and young Giovinco was superb replacing Diego always eager to take men on and attack.

Players that really impressed me were Mobido Diakite in the heart of the Lazio defence, although he looks clumsy, he was first to nearly everything, great in the air, showed some skill on the ground, I think Lazio have found a gem here, only young has the strength already, and a great place to learn his trade in Serie A.

After all the criticism I have read about the Felipe Melo transfer to Juve, I though he was excellent, great at breaking up Lazio's play, also so great passing ability was shown, played very well the whole match and looked the part for me in the anchor position of the midfield.

Chiellini and Legrottaglie were very dominant in Juve's defence, snubbing every Lazio attack, I have always thought of Chellini as a liablity, but he changed my mind in this match he looked every part a leader.

One player that disappointed was Grosso, I thought the quality of his crossing was terrible, I struggle now to remember any cross that beat the frist man, or any dangerous cross at all, quite disappointing from the World Cup winner.

Juve opened the scoring on the 72nd minute, Marchisio's cross was blocked and Caceres hit a perfect volley, Muslera had no chance, nice way for Caceres to make his debut.

The second was a lovely break away move from Juve between Giovinco and Amauri, The big brazilians volley was saved and Trezeguet was there to finish.

Some great football was played by both teams, 2-0 in a way flattered Juve, Lazio deserved soemthing for their defensive and midfield play, they didn't do enough upfront for me.
Depending on how long Diego is out for could effect Juve, but that is now 27 games consecutive that they have scored in Serie A, and Giovinco is a adequate replacement and could be his time to shine.

LAZIO 0 JUVENTUS 2

M.O.M - Felipe Melo - Juventus

Espanyol v Real Madrid - September 12th

Sorry for the lack of posts, got some catching up to do, had alot of things going on.

Starting with this game that I watched last week.

ESPANYOL 0 REAL MADRID 3

ESPANYOL: Kameni, Forlin, Pareja, D.Garcia, Chica, Verdu, Hurtado, Nakamura, L.Garcia, Tamudo, Ivan Alonso
REAL MADRID: Casillas, Metzelder, Albiol, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Guti, Alonso, Benzema, Granero, Kaka, Higuain

Really enjoyed the game, thought Espanyol were hard done by to lose 3-0 the scoreline doesn't do them justice, it was also a very emotional game, a tribute for defender Dani Jarque was held before the game, and also on the 21st minute and Jarque chant went round the ground to commenerate his number.

Both full backs Chica and David Garcia were great at getting forward, I thought Luis Garcia was quiet on the left, Naka was decent on the right, the forward line could have done alot more.

Real dropped all 3 goalscorers from the first week, Lass, Ronaldo and Raul on the bench, for me there is still alot of work that needs doing to this Real team, Marcelo is not a left back I would choose, his defending leaves alot to be desired, and Metzelder is looking like a liability in the middle of the defence, the midfield trio of Guti, Alonso and Granero impressed me, only Alonso is guareteed his place in the team, but Guti came in and did a great job bossing the midfield spreading the play, and Granero was superb in his box to box work, and great link up with Alonso for the first goal.

Espanyol stepped up a gear in the 2nd half, Nakamura and Ivan Alonso came off and Coro and De la Pena came on, Coro giving more width on the left and the "Little Buddha" becoming the focus of the Espanyol's attacks, he changed the game for Espanyol, they looked far more dangerous, and could has easily pulled a goal back and made it much more interesting.

The Catalan's play was enjoyable once De la Pena was on the field, Coro was also impressive down the left wing, showed good pace and skill, and it was good to see he started the next match against Deportivo.

Overall the 3-0 result flattered Madrid which could have been alot closer, Espanyol should do well this season, I look forward to watching them again.


M.O.M - Guti - For me he played a great game, showing he still has the ability to be in the new galacticos, and with a long season ahead, he will get alot of games.

Match Rating 7/10

Champions League Predictions

Ok in recongnition of the group stage starting tonight, here is how i think the groups will finish after Matchday 6

GROUP A
1.Juventus
2.Bayern Munich
3.Bordeaux
4.Maccabi Haifa

Seemed easy to predict, until I thought more about it, Bayern had struggled until Ribery came back, Bordeaux have the potential but have failed to perform in the CL in the past.
I think Bordeaux will be happy to finish 3rd.


GROUP B
1.Manchester United
2.Wolfsburg
3.CSKA Moscow
4.Besiktas

Man U will win the group comfortably, Wolfsburg will jump up to 2nd, CSKA and Besiktas will battle for third


GROUP C
1.Real Madrid
2.Marseille
3.AC Milan
4.FC Zurich

First upset, I think Marseille will pip Milan to the 2nd spot, Milan have a thin squad and I can see this hindering them.


GROUP D
1.Chelsea
2.Atletico
3.Porto
4.APOEL

Atletico will impress in the group but not enough to beat Chelsea, Porto will be happy to come 3rd.


GROUP E
1.Liverpool
2.Lyon
3.Fiorentina
4.Debrecen

No surprises here, Liverpool will win the group, with Lyon fighting and in the end being too strong for Fioretina.


GROUP F
1.Barcelona
2.Inter
3.Dynamo Kyiv
4.Rubin Kazan

Again no surprises, Barca will impress with Zlatan as will Inter with Eto’o and the group winner will come from these too, I’m predicting Barca to overcome Mourinho


GROUP G
1.Sevilla
2.Stuttgart
3.Rangers
4.Unirea Urziceni

Trying not to be bias here, I think Rangers have a big chance to come second but in the end will come 3rd.


GROUP H
1.Arsenal
2.Olympiacos
3.AZ Alkmaar
4.Standard Liege

Arsenal will cruise this group, Olympiakos will emerge in 2nd place, AZ will make the the Europa League.

Youth - The Chelsea Ban!!

Hey guys

Sorry for the lack of coverage recently, I was on family duties over the weekend, didn't get watch much football, managed to record the Hibs v Celtic game and also watched the first half of Inter v Milan, hoping the catch the highlights of the other leagues this week.

Not sure if anyone saw the Celtic game, after a week of non stop talk of Eduardo's dive and simulation, Aiden McGeady got sent off for a second bookable offence, even though the linesman who was the closed offcial to the action, called for a Celtic free-kick ,the referee thought he saw better and booked Aiden and off he went, now would this have happened if nothing had happed to Eduardo, I very much doubt it, the best thing was, later in the 2nd half Chris Killen, jumped over a Hibs players leg, then went down with an awful attempt at a dive, what did the referee do....nothing, play on. Just shows there is no consistency at all, will be interesting to see if anyone gets sent off during the World Cup qualifiers this weekend.

The main reason I wanted to post something today was after the news that Chelsea will be banned for 3 transfer windows from bringing in any players, now I am sure that whatever appeal Chelsea lodge will work, and either it will be reduced, or completly disregarded, I really hope the powers in be have the strength to stand up to a rich club and make them suffer, I don't think in anyway Chelsea are the only team that conduct these methods of player buying, why not go around the teams with the best youth academies, snapping up all the talented youth and hopefully you'll produce the next Leo Messi.

Just look at Arsenal's captain Cesc Fabergas, the ex-Barca trainee was signed by Arsenal when he was 16 and by 17 he was an Arsenal regular, but for every Fabergas there is someone like Arturo Lupoli, Lupoli broke all kind of records playing for Parma's u17 team, his contract ended Arsenal snapped him up, and although he scored goals in the reserve team and a few in the Carling Cup, he never really made it to the full team, after a loan spell at Derby County, he signed for Fiorentina, he never made an appearance for the Viola, then after loan spells at Norwich, Sheffield United and Treviso he now plies his trade at former Serie A club Ascoli.

Now where would Lupoli be if he had stayed in Italy till he was 20/21 learning his trade in his native country, noone will ever know.

When I look through the squads in Englands top teams it's interesting:

Arsenal have Wojciech Szczęsny 19yr old Polish goalkeeper, Gilles Sunu 18yr old French defender, Chelsea have in their youth team players from Turkey, Austria, Slovakia, Sweden and Italy, then in the reserves the player the ban has come from 18 yr old Gael Kakuta, who spent 6 years at RC Lens youth academy, at the time Lens received nothing for the player, now where do teams like Lens go that plough millions into the youth academies to have real talented players removed from them for nominal fees, and who knows will Gael ever break into the Chelsea First team, or will he be loaned out to numerous clubs and then eventually sold to a lower level team for peanuts, where if he he stayed at Lens he could have become a first team player for a team 40 miles from where he was born and then move on and make the club millions of pounds and all the hard by the academy seem worthwhile and all the players looking up at the first team thinking "That could be us."

I think UEFA and FIFA will take action, It is not just English teams that do this, Barcelona signed up Messi when he was 13, and Real and Barca's B teams now have mostly Spanish players but the odd South American or African, so don't think I'm pointing the finger just at the English teams.

If I was in charge I would propose that players must play in the country of their birth until they reached 20, only then could they move to another country to play football, now this will never happen because every big team would go to court and complain that this prevents some kind of workers rights, or some 19 year old Brazilian wonder kid would sue FIFA for not letting him sign for Barcelona, and it would fall to pieces.

However just think about how good it would be for the game, Argentinian and Brazilian clubs would know any hot prospect would most likely stay with them, or only move within the same league until they were 20 and then you would see them move for probably more substantial fees than they do now, and also in Europe it would do wonders for each league, if Italian or Spanish stars could not make it into the squads of the big teams, they would have to move to other teams in the league be it on loan or permanently, so the so called smaller teams would improve, Countries like France and Holland could put more money into the academies knowing players wouldn't be spied on and tapped up by the money clubs, and could benefit themselves from the talent they have nurtured.

Of course as I've said this will never happen, as teams and players are greedy and want the best player/deal they can get, so I can only dream on, however I would like to hear other people thoughts on this or what they would like to see come in.

Champions League Draw

Here's the groups, thoughts and predictions later.

GROUP A
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa

GROUP B
Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

GROUP C
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

GROUP D
Chelsea
Porto
Atletico
APOEL

GROUP E
Liverpool
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debrecen

GROUP F
Barcelona
Inter
Dynamo Kyiv
Rubin Kazan

GROUP G
Sevilla
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni

GROUP H
Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiacos
Standard Liege

Champions League Playoffs

A quick word on the Champions League qualifiers today before the big draw.

May as well get this bit over with, as a Celtic fan my hopes of us qualifying weren't exactly sky high, If we could get a goal in the first 20-25 minutes we might have had a chance for at least penalties, and after losing 2 very soft goals at Celtic Park, I was hoping maybe a little bit of luck may go our way, when Eduardo failed to score with an open goal in front of him, my hopes grew a little maybe we have a chance.

How wrong I was, Eduardo played a nice 1-2 got in the box, Boruc ran out realised he wouldn't get the ball, tried to pull out, and Eduardo went down as if there had been full contact, brushed himself off, and placed the penalty past Boruc, I was outraged, it was never a penalty, no contact was made, it was a blatant dive, and an act of cheating.

Why do players of that quality, in a team with World Class players, they don't need to cheat, playing high quality football, they would have probably won in the end, so why cheat, the 3 to 5 thousand Celtic fans who had made the journey down to the Emirates must have felt sick, any chance of progressing taken away by a cheat, I used to have alot of respect for Eduardo from his International record to his horrific leg break against Birmingham, now all that's gone.

Yes Arsenal did win the game 3-1 in the end 5-1 over both games, however everything after Eduardo's dive is irrelevant, hearts were crushed spirits broken.

All the calls for Eduardo to be banned seem a little over the top, however maybe there needs to be a change, an extra 30 secs for the ref to look at the incident would it still have been a penalty, it wouldn't slow the game down at all, in this HD age, con artists are still given an advantage in ways how to con the referee.

Everyone knows the gulf between the EPL and SPL is huge, noone would argue that, the transfer fee's for Arshavin and Vermaelen would be Celtic's transfer budget for 6 or 7 years, the SPL teams are restricted to buying players from their own league or unknown players and trying to sell them off for a profit, however he are expected to reach the last 16 of the Champions League group stage.

If a team like Everton or Aston Villa reached the Champions League I don't think the same pressures would be put on them, although they have alot more resources available to them.
In UEFA's coefficients system Scotland are placed behind Russia but ahead of countries like Ukraine, Turkey and Greece, these countries can all attract players of a high quality, Djibril Cisse, Elano, Kader Keita these players would never come to the SPL in a million years.

So this shows the SPL punches way above it's weight, so in this sense I am proud of Celtic's performance against Arsenal, and being a Celtic fan it's hard to say but I wish Rangers all the best in carrying on the countries participation.

Also going through to the group stage with Arsenal are: Olympiacos, APOEL FC, VfB Stuttgart, Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Debreceni, Lyon, Maccabi Haifa and FC Zurich, well done to all of them.

APOEL and Debreceni were the upsets of the round, Copenhagen and Levski Sofia losing out.

Atletico looked very impressive in the 5-2 win over Panathinaikos, the highly rated Sergio Aguero looking very dangerous.

Lyon seemed to use the Play-off games against Anderlecht to find their form, struggling in the league until their 5-1 victory in the first leg, and then finished it off win a 3-1 win, fans will be saying Karim who?

Weekend Thoughts - 22nd August

EPL

So Man Utd were in a crisis, 30 minutes in Wigan seemed to stop that talk, Berbatov seems to have remembered that he is quite fast when he tries, Nice finish from Owen could be the kick start he needs, and Rooney is just getting better and better, This could be his world class season, the leader of United.

Mark Hughes needs to get his City boys on the training field putting the ball into net, or remove the force field from the Eastlands goals, so much good football, lovely link ups , but no end product, eventually someone is gonna get turned over. Lescott will join in a matter of days, I wonder who gets dropped Bridge or Dunne?

So far this season everyones spoke about Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool, Chelsea however are quitely doing their thing, maximum points, 7 goals, my dark horses for the league.


SERIE A

Inter everyones favourite got a bit of a wake up call, Kutozov's 75th minute equaliser meant Bari left the San Siro with an unexpected point, neighbours Milan travelled to Siena and came away with all 3 points in what could have been a banana skin.
Inter have a new central defensive pairing and a new strikeforce, and this could take time to gel, can Eto'o and Milito co-exist and score as many goals as their used to, Mourinho said he needed an attacking midfielder, but so far noone has come in, and Deco is getting a game for Chelsea, can Inter lift the title again without this piece of the jigsaw, and despite the numerous departures, Milan still have a steady ship and a strong spine, all eyes will be on the Brazilianas Leonardo, Ronaldinho and Pato.

My Serie A knowledge is limited just now with a lack of Uk coverage in the past few years however I hope this will increase this season, so bear with me, Good wins for Genoa and Palermo teams I have been told to look out for.


BUNDESLIGA

Starting to get annoyed with ESPN's coverage, great opening weekend, 2 live games, then nothing, too many leagues not enough channels.

I worry for Louis van Gaal and Bayern, 2 points from 9, a defeat against Mainz, the new signings haven't shown their worth, are the Bavarian fans getting a glimpse of life without Ribery, it doesn't look a good one. How long will the Bayern hierarchy put up with such mediocre results, If Bayern aren't top 3 by Christmas van Gaal will be shown the door.

Leverkusen went top of the league with a 5-0 victory of Freiburg, 2 goal from new boy Derdiyok, signed from FC Basel, he impressed me at Euro 2008, I hope to see more of him if Levekusen ever get on TV over here, also top of the league are Schalke and Hamburg who on Sunday defeated Wolfsburg 4-2 in the Wolves backyard, Unbeaten at home since the 2007/08 season the Wolves may have thought the game was theirs after coming back from 2-0 to 2-2, Hamburg had different ideas, Mladen Petric and Romeo Castelen scoring the goals to led Hamburg to the 4-2 victory, When Martin Jol left to manage Ajax I thought that Hamburg would struggle to recreate the form of last season, Ivica Olic leaving solidified my thinking, however so far they are doing very well, 7 points from 9, and a 5-1 victory in the Europa League see Bruno Labbadia's men riding high in the Bundesliga.


LIGUE 1

It's nice to see Lyon getting back onto form, a fantastic 5-1 victory over Anderlecht and now a 3-0 win away at Auxerre, Puel has been going between a 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formation, personally I think the 4-3-3 works better, the 3 in midfield gives Makoun more freedom, and Toulalan can sit in, and either Pjanic or Ederson can play more advanced, with the 4-4-2 with the players they have a gap would appear between the midfield and forward line. The 4-3-3 can also turn into a 4-5-1 when defending, Bastos is good at covering back on the left, If Lyon can maintain their run it'll be hard to bet against them.

Champions Bordeaux maintained their 100% record a 4-0 win over Nice. Yoann Gourcuff scoring 2 goals makes his €15 million look like a bargin. The "New Zidane" tags that are flying about are looking more and more justified, A very graceful player, can pass score, beat people off the dribble, the scary thing is, he is only going to get better.

Still no UK coverage of Ligue 1, I'm limited to live feeds with poor quality, highlights packages and the odd downloaded game if I can find time during the week to watch it, hopefullt someone will buy the rights so I can see some live Ligue 1 action.


SPL

Another weekend over in Scotland, Celtic warmed up for their 2nd leg against Arsenal with a 5-2 victory over St. Johnstone, not sure what to take from this, good to score 5 goals before a match when you need to score, but losing 2 goals against a newly promoted side before going to one of the most attacking teams in Europe is not ideal, Shaun Maloney has started this season fantastically looking very sharpe, he scored 2 goals and also set up Fortune's first, Mowbary seems to have given Shaun the freedom to hang on the left and cause Havoc, a Scotland recall should be coming soon.

Rangers ended the weekend somehow managing to collect all 3 points from their trip to Tynecastle, Hearts took the lead after Kevin Thomson got sent off for a harsh challenge, a yellow would have been more fitting for the crime, especially so early in the match, new Hearts striker David Witteveen scoring after a nice 1-2 with Nade but McGregor should have kept it out.
Rangers were terrible in the first half, Miller up on his own and with only 10 men they couldn't make more than 3 passes together, Hearts hussled very well and done a great job and deserved the 1-0 lead, It was a different Rangers team in the 2nd half, moving Steven Naismith upfront, and a compact 3 man midfield, they looked a much better side, and they deserved to equalise, Lee McCulloch flicking a header past Balogh. Hearts did not deserve though to get nothing from the game. Naismith was recklessly brought down by Bouzid, and Kris Boyd who had just come on, with his first touch guarenteed Rangers all 3 points.

Hibs had the early game live on ESPN and after going behind to a great solo goal by Falkirks Ryan Flynn on loan from Liverpool. The commentators had been criticising Sol Bamba for the player self linking himself with a move to Liverpool, who else was going to pop up with header to bring Hibs Level, I like Bamba, he reminds me of a young Bobo Balde who graced Celtic's defense for a few years, Big strong lad, great in the air, a bit quick to jump in, and very tempremental, but he does have ability, if John Hughes can nurture this, he could be a force to be reckoned with.

Hibs played a strong 3 man attack, big man Colin Nish, the quick and skillful Derek Riordan and new signing from Sunderland Anthony Stokes, Stokes played under Hughes at Falkirk and was the SPL top scorer that season, Riordan trying to resurrect his career after the top wasted years at Celtic, and it was Derek that scored the two winning goals, popping up to flick a free kick past Olenjik and then with 10 minutes to go, curled a wonderful free kick past the helpless keeper, a great comeback and win for the Hibees.

With those 3 upfront as long as they all play to their potential I think Hibs will challenge for a Europa league place, Stokes has now had a few years in the Premiership this will have made his a better player from his Falkirk days, Nish and Riordan are also capable of scoring 10+ goals a season with the same from Stokes, the sun could be shining on Leith this year.

GOOD WEEK

• Marc-Antoine Fortune - opened his account for Celtic with 2 goals




• Jozy Altidore - Exciting debut for Hull setting up the winning goal




• Ronaldinho - sets up both goals in Milan's win




• Feyenoord - Top of the league with a 4-0 win over Roda




• Burnley - Proving the Man U victory was not a fluke 1-0 win over Everton

BAD WEEK

• Jose Mourinho - Only managing a draw in first home game against Bari




• Everton - Lescott about to leave and another defeat in the league




• Wolfsburg - Losing their unbeaten home record




• Hearts - 2 games 0 points bad start the Lazslo's men




• Alain Perrin - Bottom of Ligue 1, no points, pressure is on.

Siena v AC Milan - 22nd August

SIENA: Curci - Rossettini, Ficagna, Brandao, Del Grosso - Vergassola, Codrea, Fini - Jarolim - Ghezzal, Maccarone
MILAN: Storari - Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Jankulovski - Gattuso, Pirlo, Flamini - Ronaldinho - Pato, Borriello

First day of the Serie A season and my first Serie A game in quite a while, since Channel 5 stopped their coverage, no other English channel had picked up the coverage, the problem is the general fan in the UK still has this negative view on Italian football, defensive football, no goals, and is still considered boring, The problem stems from the teams they get to see, always Inter, Milan or Juve and Roma if they are playing English teams in the Champions League, I remember saying how good Roma were and they played great football, then they went to Old Trafford and got destroyed, not good for my defense of the league, Serie A however has many good teams outside the big names, Genoa, Palermo, Napoli and Sampdoria to name a few.

So last night I sat down to watch Siena v Milan, looking through the Siena squad only a couple of names were recognisable, Romanian midfielder Codrea, Czech midfielder Jarolim and ex-Middlesbrough forward Massimo Maccarone, so alot of new players to see and enjoy.

With Milan it haas been a stormy summer, Ancelotti gone, Maldini retired, and Kaka moving to Madrid, and the players coming in have not satified the Rossoneri faithful, In defence, Gooch Onyewu the big American centre half has been brought in, although he had a bad time at Newcastle on loan, he is a player that i've always like when he's played for the USA, so I think he could settle in well. Klass Jan Huntelaar was not the striker Milan fans wanted, can he settle in Italy, although people say he wasn't as good for Real but 8 goals in 20 games with an injury is a good record for me.

Both new players didn't start new coach Leonardo went for Borriello and Pato upfront with Ronaldinho behind them, could Ronnie blossom again without Kaka.

Milan struck first, Ronaldinho slipped the ball into Pato's path and without breaking stride he placed it past Curci, lovely ball for Ronnie, and throughout the whole game he was behind most of Milan's best moves, If he can stay fit, and hungry, I can see him having a good season, maybe just in time for South Africa.

The Milan goal seemed to wake up Siena, with Maccarone making some strong runs down the left channel and Fini trying to pick a pass, it paid off, the ball was played into Jarolim, he turned and hit a low shot, Storari could only parry it, and Ghezzal pounced to scoop the ball into the net taking Siena into the break level.

Leonardo's half time team talk worked wonders, and a lovely move set up the 2nd goal, Borriello won the ball in the air, Pato brought it down, played the ball to Ronaldinho, his lovely pass inside to Flamini was then played across the box to Pato and the magical Brazilian made no mistake applying the finish the move deserved.

Flamini getting a starting spot, shows Leonardo's intentions, alot of people think Ancelotti under used the Frenchman, I for one agree with that and was really glad to see him in the starting lineup and also be involved in the move for the 2nd goal, and he had a really good game.

After the 2nd goal the game got a little scrappy, Siena brought on young striker Paolucci and he failed to make an impact, but from what I'm told he is one to watch out for.

Overall a good match, Siena will be hoping to survive another season after letting alot of their big players go, Milan will want to challenge for the Scudetto, but I think this will be a step to far for this new Milan side, this was big win for Milan though, with the Derby next week, without this win, they could have been possibly 6 points behind Inter after only 2 weeks, now they have the chance to get an early lead.

SIENA 1
Ghezzal 34
MILAN 2
Pato 29,48



Match Rating - 7/10

M.O.M - Ronaldinho - Milan

Dundee United v Hearts - 17th August

DUNDEE UTD: Weaver - Kovacevic, Dods, Webster, Dixon - Gomis, Buaben, Robertson, Swanson - Goodwillie, Cadamarteri
HEARTS: Kello - Jonsson, Bouzid, Kucharski, Goncalves - Suso, Palazuelos, Stewart, Obua - Witteveen - Nade

Finally managed to watch this game from Monday night, avoided the score all week so was looking forward to it, 2 of the best teams outside the old firm, big game for both teams to start of their season with. Hearts will be looking again to secure at least a 3rd place finish or if possible challenge the top two, United will have thoughts of the same but 3rd place would be an excellent season.

Dundee United started very brightly and after 2 minutes they had a penalty, the very impressive Danny Swanson skipped inside the box Eggert Jonsson stuck out his leg and Swanson went down, the Ref had no choice but to point to the spot, Penalties are a big enough pressure, but Cadamarteri stepped upfront infront of his home fans on his debut, and fired the ball just past Kello, the keeper was unlucky got a fingertip to it, but it was not enough, a fantastic start for the home team 1-0 up after 2 minutes.

United were the much better team in the first half, midfielder Gomis is a very talented player, he started on the right but is given the right to move around the field, and he linked up very well with Prince Buaben, and Swanson, with performances like this it won't be long till Gomis is playing at a higher level, he's fast, strong, good passer.

Hearts came back into the game towards the end of the first half, due to the play of David Obua, the tall lanky Ugandan, looks awkward when running but when he gets on the ball, he has a good touch, speed to go past men, and playing on the left, the ball played across is a good outlet that he can win comfortably in the air, he also has good set piece delivery, and he created a great chance on the half hour, swinging in the free kick, into that area between keeper and defenders that always causes trouble but noone could get on the end of it.

The end of the first half saw bookings for Stewart, Obua and Kovacevic for United, and 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Stewart made a rash challenge on Robertson and the referee had no choice to send Stewart off, Hearts not only down to 10 men but also losing their captain.

The second half couldn't live up to the first and the game was over with 6 minutes to go, Buaben played the ball to Gomis and he played a lovely pass through to Cadamarteri and he was onside with only the keeper to beat, stayed calm and passed the ball past the keeper and it curled into the net, and the United fans could celebrate the 3 points.

Really enjoyable game, United impressed alot, I've already mentioned Gomis, in defence young Paul Dixon looked a good left back, not scared to get forward, got in good positions, be it in defence or attack, the big Duo of Dods and Webster will be a solid pairing, not many teams will trouble them in the air, Webster an international defender good for youngsters like Garry Kenneth to learn from, Kovacevic at right back has always played well when I've seen him, 6 foot 4 is huge for a fullback, and he is also fast, good on the ball, a good defender to have.

Robertson had a solid game in the middle next to the all energy Prince Buaben, it was Danny Swanson that caught the eye the most, playing because Craig Conway wasn't fully fit, but on this showing he'll deserve a starting place, pace, trickery, wants to take players on and get in the box, can also put in a cross, he's one I'll be looking out for.

Youngster David Goodwillie was partnered with Ex-Everton and England U21 Danny Cadamarteri, if you've never heard his name, Danny burst through the Everton ranks before anyone knew who Wayne Rooney was, had skill and pace, and was destined to be the next big thing, In the 96/97 season he scored 4 goals in 3 months, one of them against Liverpool, then in 2001 there was a Court case where he was found guilty of assault.

From then till now he has played for Bradford City twice, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Grays Athletic, Leicester City, Doncaster Rovers and Huddersfield Town, spanning 8 years, in this time he only scored 11 goals, all the promise seemed gone, the move to United could be his last chance, but also a fresh start, and 2 goals in your debut can only help kick start his season, he looked really sharp, seems to be in shape, had his pace back, also for a small guy he won alot of headers, ran the channels well, I can't see why he can't have a really good season.

Hearts had a poor game by their standards, Witteveen and Nade couldn't combine upfront, there was too big a gap between the forwards and the midfield, even more so after Stewarts Red card, A player I was watching for the first time was Suso, the former Tenerife winger was making his debut, you could see he has talent, pace, some trickery and obviously confidence, the phrase I used to describe him to my girlfriend was "Like Cristiano Ronaldo without the ability" a tendency to go down, waving for yellow cards, trying to take too much on, probably too make faith in his own ability, I hope that he settles down cause I think he could be talented, just not with his attitude.

Overall a good game to watch, I hope to see both teams again this season, United looking much the better team, but there's a long way to go.

DUNDEE UNITED 2
Cadamarteri 4, 85

HEARTS 0




Match Rating 7/10

M.O.M - Danny Swanson - Dundee United

PSV Eindhoven v Ajax

PSV Eindhoven 4 Ajax 3

PSV: Isaksson - Salcido, Manolev, Pieters, Ooijer - Simons, Afellay, Bakkal - Lazovic, Dzsudzsak, Toivonen
Ajax: Stekelenburg - Atouba, Wielaert, Van der Wiel, Alderweireld - Enoh, Vertonghen, De Zeeuw - Emanuelson, Suarez, Rommedahl

This was the first Eredivisie game I have seen this season, the the first time I have watched Ajax or PSV for quite a while, so I'm not gonna come on and say what I think of the teams chances, as it would be without proof.

If you haven't seen this game, go watch it, what a fantastic game of football, Luis Suarez opened the scoring after Isaksson's big mistake after only 2 minutes, Isaksson failed to control a Salcido backpass and Suarez pounced to steal the ball and score from a tight finish.
Dzsudzsak scored an absolute screamer of a Free Kick on 37 minutes, and Roberto Carlos-esque thunder bolt into the top corner.

I've seen Dzsudzsak a few times and he has always impressed me, great old fashioned winger, taking people on, the ability to cross, and from this game looks like he is a danger from a set piece, as his 2nd goal and PSV's 3rd was a free kick from outside, curled into the back post, showing his ability to strike the ball, definitley a player to watch out for.

The game was back and forward apart from the 7 goals there was alot of chances, 8 yellow cards, and fantastic goals again from Suarez chipping over Isaksson, Urby Emanuelson's left foot strike left Isaksson with no chance, Bakkal also got 2 for PSV a nice finish from inside the box, and on the 74th minute he popped up to score what was to be the winner.

Both team impressed me alot, I was surprised to see Suarez play the CF role and Emanuelson the left winger, last time I saw them play Suarez was the winger and Urdy was the left back, both impressed in their new roles, I liked the look of Emanuelson going forward, and Suarez was such a danger up in the middle.

Toivonen is a player I want to see more of, he has taken Lazovic's place as the main man in PSV's attack, I had seen his free kick against England at the Under 21 Championship, so was looking forward to seeing him play for his club, unfortunately he didn't play well, was quiet, so I will have to watch again to see him, Affellay is a player I have championed in the past, and he was busy and tricky as always.

I probably picked the best game to reintroduce myself to the Eredivisie, and it will make me watch some more.

Hope anyone that reads this will find a way to watch the match, I'll post some highlights though.

Match Rating - 9/10

M.O.M - Balazs Dzsudzsak - PSV

Celtic v Arsenal

Celtic 0 Arsenal 2

Celtic: Boruc - Hinkel, Loovens, Caldwell, Fox - McGeady, Donati, N.Guemo, Brown, Maloney - Samaras
Arsenal: Almunia - Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy - Song, Denilson, Fabergas - Bendtner, Arshavin, van Persie

The so called Battle of Britiain saw Runners up of Scotland against 4th best place English side for a place in the Champions League, Arsenal the massive favourites to progress and be the first English team since Nottingham Forest in 1983 to win at Celtic Park.

Being a Celtic fan myself, You obviously have 2 thoughts, one from your head and one from your heart.

My head was saying we will struggle to win this tie, we need to keep a clean sheet and either nick a goal at Celtic Park or the Emirates, the more open the game is the less chance we have of going through.

My heart was saying "Come on, get fired into these English(European) pansies and we can go through.

Luckily it's my head thats writing this review rather than my heart.

At first I was disappointed by Mowbrays selection, going 4-5-1 at home is not what the fans want, but I could see his thinking, Arsenal going with Fabergas, Song and Denilson there is no way you can go 4-4-2 against a team like this, you'd never have the ball, Samaras is a good player to play up on his own, pace, power, height.

In my mind this also plays into Arsenals hands, you are letting them dictate the play, you need to take the game to them, and you can't do this with 1 upfront.

For the first 42minutes Celtic had matched Arsenal for every move, althought we hadn't troubled Almunia apart from Arshavin's offside goal, we were comfortable, then Gary Caldwell gave away a free kick about 25 yards out, Fabergas hits it, it comes off Gallas's arse and Celtic are 1-0 down.

The team was deflated, nothing that Tony said at half time could pick them up, you could see from the start the team made for the second 45, the were down, sloppy passes, concentration going, it could have been 3-0 by the hour mark, we slowly came back into it, Fortune and McDonald making a little difference, but just the gulf in class shown through, we didn't have another gear to go to.

Gary Caldwell's own goal summed the night up, 2-0 down, but not a direct shot went past Boruc, I am proud of my team, and look forward to the Europa cup, even though there is a 2nd leg to come, we will end up getting beat 4-0 on aggregate probably.

Arsenal played ok on the night, the front 3 were very quiet, Fabergas didn't have the game the Sky commentators made it out he had, Song, Denilson and Vermaelen were awesome, never missed a beat.

For Celtic, Landry N'Guemo looked very solid, got in the way of alot of passes and broke the play up well.

Overall it was a poor game by Arsenal's standards, just Celtic didn't have the quality to take any advantage.

MATCH VERDICT - 6/10

M.O.M - Thomas Vermaelen - Arsenal

Saturday Round Up 15/08

Usually I plan like last weekend to do a round-up after the Sunday game, however I'm off to London in the morning to watch GB play Basketball at the o2.

So decided to write one now, and do a Sunday round-up on Monday night or Tuesday.



PREMIERSHIP

After the 3 o'clock games I watched Arsenal's game at Everton at Wow what a great start to the season, all the criticism Wenger has received, myself being one of the doubters, only 1 player in, Toure/Adebayor out, I liked Wengers lineup, playing Fabergas with Song and Denilson in the middle, what you lose out by not having a solid DM, you make up in numbers, not sure Bendtner works as a winger, Rosicky, Walcott or Nasri will surely play there more often, Arsenal played some fantastic football this evening, Denilson goal was a cracker, Vermaelen introduced himself in the best way with a fantastic header.

Arshavin had a really good game, he is going to be a revelation in the EPL this season, such a fantastic footballing brain, combining well with van Persie and Eduardo upfront he's going to be Arsenal's main man I think.

It's not often that Everton get beat 6-1, and with games like these I always wonder, are Arsenal playing that well, are Everton playing terrible, or is it a mixture of the two, today, I think it was a mixture, Everton played some good football at times, just Arsenal were clinical and the Toffee's defending was awful at times.

A player that impressed me at the end of this season was Wigan's Hugo Rodallega, and I've been looking forward to see how he gets on this season, and today he launched a statement of intent, a wonder strike at Villa Park, he let the ball bounce and from the corner of the box lashed a wonderful shot over Brad Freidel, video coming if I can find it.

Also a great start for Mark Hughes and Man City, my one thought on this, What happens when everyone is fit and wants to play, I can see alot of unrest, apparently Richard Dunne was the Captain and played great, so where would Lescott go?



COCA-COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

One story from the Championship today, Freddie Sears on loan at Crystal Palace from West Ham, though he had scored his first goal for Palace slotting the ball past Bristol City's keeper, the ball hit the corner of the net, bounced back out and the referee waved the players to play on, NO GOAL, Palace boss Neil Warnock, went absolutely crazy.

Surely this is a call for either a video ref, videos in the goal or even a referee behind the net, Bristol City went on to win 1-0, I find it disgraceful that in 2009 cameras everywhere, things like this can still happen, and you can guarantee the English FA will do nothing.



LIGUE 1

Exciting 2nd week in France, a caught a stream near the end of the Sochaux v Bordeaux match ,just in time to see Charlie Davies score his debut goal for Sochaux this brought FCSM back into the match at 2-1, and after Chamakh scored his 2nd, Davies scored near the end, Great way to announce yourself to you new fans, although they didn't win, I'm sure the Sochaux fans will be excited by Davies goals, I know I am. Chamakh's double could also be his last goals in a Bordeaux shirt, I hope he doesn't go to Arsenal, I think he would fail as they have too many forwards already, a move to West Ham would work wonders I think, replace forgotten target man Dean Ashton, Marouane is one of the best headers of a ball in football just now and would do well in the EPL.

Lyon have struggled again, a 1-0 win against Valenciennes, How long does Puel have with performances like these, Gomis goal will have cheered the Lyon fans up both new strikers have scored, this was a massive goal for Gomis as he struggled last season, if he had went a few games without a goal it could have been a similar season, I hope this kicks off his scoring this season.


Hansds up how many people had Nancy top of Ligue 1 after 2 games, a great 4-0 win against Monaco, look forward to seeing the highlights.



SPL

Big wins for Celtic and Rangers today, Aiden McGeady scoring twice again Aberdeen, showing what he can do given more freedom by Tony Mowbary, this is going to be Aiden's big season, and if he performs well, possibly could be his last in the SPL, the Premiership will be calling.

Rangers got a scare at Ibrox, after going 1 up, Falkirk equalised, however Rangers went on to win 4-1 a good start for them at home, Kenny Miller got 2 goals, he needs a big scoring season, 10 in 30 games last season, not fantastic for an Old Firm striker.

St. Johnstone kicked off their SPL season with a point at home to Motherwell, this gets them off the board, and something to improve on, the big win of the day was for Kilmarnock a 3-0 win at home to Hamilton, this is the kind of result they needed to kick start the season, but the complete opposite effect on Hamilton.


GOOD DAY

• Arsenal - The criticism stops here
• Paul Alo'o Efoulou - 2 goals on his debut for Nancy
• Obafemi Martins - debut goal for Wolfsburg
• Ronald Koeman - after last weeks defeat AZ come back to win 6-0
• RC Lens - Win first home game back in Ligue 1

BAD DAY

• People with Joelyn Lescott in your Fantasy Football Team
• Stuart Duff - Taken off after 38 minutes for Aberdeen after McGeady scores 2
• Neil Warnock - Losing 1-0 after your team scores a legitimate goal not allowed
• St-Etienne - 2 defeats in a row, not a lot of positives
• Aston Villa - after defeat to Wigan does the top 4 talk stop

SPL Preview - Part 3

MOTHERWELL

Jim Gannon has a big challenge in front of him, The Irishmen takes over the Steelmen, previously the manager of Stockport County, has to overcome the loss of David Clarkson, Cillian Sheridan, Stephen Hughes, Bob Malcolm, and Grame Smith, those are big holes to fill.

In comes 3 players from the lower league in England, Stephen Jennings, Chris Humphrey and Giles Coke, I have never seen these guys play, so how much they will improve the team remains to be seen.

Captain Stephen Craigan remains, as does John Sutton and Jim O'Brien, 3 talented players, I get the feeling Motherwell will battle for mid-table and finish in the bottom 6, I think they are too good for relegation, however I thought this about Inverness last year.

RANGERS

If I was a Rangers fan the one thing that would worry me is that Rangers have let 15 players go and no one has come in, Barry Ferguson is the only player from the starting line-up that's gone, it's more the fact that no one has come in.

The players will be buoyed on by being the Champions, and the players they have at the club are still very talented, Weir and Bougherra are the best Central Defender partnership in the SPL, Kris Boyd will always score goals, and with Pedro Mendes and Steven Davis in midfield, Rangers will be right there at the title challenge.

If Celtic can play more attacking football than last season, I think Ranges will come close but finish 2nd.

ST JOHNSTONE

With no coverage at all of the Scottish First Division on TV, I've not seen this St.Johnston team play at all, looking at their squad they have veteran keeper Alain Main in goal, ex Gretna defender Danny Grainger, surprisingly ex Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris, trying to score the goals will be Gretna legend Kenny Deuchar and ex-Dundee Utd/Falkirk striker Collin Samuel.

From history all signs say St Johnstone will struggle to stay up, however I think if they can score goals they can battle for a place in the league next season.

ST.MIRREN

The Buddies are my pick to surprise the league this season, coming into the team are Lee Mair from Aberdeen, Michael Higdon from Falkirk, Paul Gallacher from Dunfermline, the only person leaving the team is veteran striker Jim Hamilton.

Gus McPherson has done a fantastic job with this team and I think this season they could challenge to move into the top 6, although if they finished 7th or 8th it would be a success.

There we go, the season is underway now at Pittodrie, Celtic v Aberdeen , I hope this preview helped you learn a little about the league and I hope to increase this knowledge.