Saturday 26 September 2009

Finally! A contestable season!!

The blog has been revived!! I'm sure my reader(s??) are delighted.



Rather than moaning about the smorgasbord of things I hate: Andy (Mr. Personality) Murray, Emmanuel Adebayor's pitch-long sprint to piss off the club who made him the player he is, or F1 once again being brought into controversy - this time by someone smacking into a wall rather than Max Moseley's arse.



No, I share with you my delight that the Premiership title is looking like it could be the most competitive in many many years!

Teams from everwhere in the table are turning up to face the "big four" with the belief that they can actually get something from the game, due in no small part to the heroics of underdogs Burnley, Wigan and Sunderland so far this season. This has never happened before!!

So what's the reason for this I hear you all shout. Well many will be blaming the fact that the "big four" just aren't as good as they once were. Fair point; Manchester United have lost two excellent players in Tevez and Ronaldo and not replaced them. Chelsea didn't spend big in the summer and now aren't allowed to tap up any more players and throw money at chairmen for a couple of years, and Liverpool lost their lynchpin in Xabi Alonso and rely far too heavily of Torres and Gerrard to bring home the points. Arsenal have lost Toure and Adebayor to Man City but Wenger's inspired purchases of Vermaelen and Arshavin, along with their maturing youngsters, have kept the Gunners afloat thus far.

No. Rather than the "big four" getting worse, the positive reality is that the clubs around them are getting better. Manchester City are the obvious example, using a large Arabic piggy-bank to transform a mediocre mid-table side into serious title contenders sporting half a dozen world class strikers. City have Arsenal's scalp so far and are likely to cause another few more upsets before the season finishes.

Aston Villa were another team eyeing up a Champion's League spot last year, and although Martin O'Neill has not signed any extra attacking prowess, he has invested heavily in bostering a defence which looked shaky at times last season. This has worked wonders, as wins against Liverpool and Chelsea, and a draw against Man City has shown.

Sunderland have also undergone a massive overhaul under Steve Bruce which looks likely to steal even more points off the big boys, Darren Bent and a red beach ball in particular looking like inspired purchases.

So is this good for the Premier League? Categorically yes!! The prospect of everyone having a chance of beating everyone will make Soccer Saturday compulsive viewing for every fan, and the table looking very different at the end of the season. Although if Wolves grab a Champions League spot I will jump off something very high.