By Michael Sinnerton

Perhaps the most boring transfer day in recent memory means that with squads finalised until at least January there are now no excuses for poor predictions and the massive hole in your squad just isn't going to be filled. And so it is that most Liverpool, Manchester United and perhaps most of all Arsenal fans find themselves incredibly disappointed. With all three clubs either breaking even or making a transfer profit this summer, they seem to have gone backwards.

Arsenal have made the biggest improvements from this time last year with the wonderful Arshavin and another Wenger master-stroke in Thomas Vermaelen now at the club. They are minus Adebayor and Toure though so any improvement in position will have more to do with improving young players and an easing of injury problems. They are still missing a top-drawer defensive midfielder and I'm not convinced Bendtner is good enough to make the best XI of a title winning-side. Liverpool's signing of Glen Johnson can almost already be called a success; he is perhaps their player of the season so far and has already scored twice, but they still lack one creative player and need Aquilani to adapt as quickly as Johnson unless Lucas improves drastically.

Whilst United will clearly benefit from Wayne Rooney's role up-front they seemed to have moved from reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo (the World's best player) to a world-class player. They were hugely lucky against Arsenal and someone needs to step-up. Tottenham fans cursing the injury of Luka Modric should perhaps be thankful of the timing as Harry (once again backed in the transfer market) has been able to bring in a like-for-like replacement in Niko Kranjcar. Spurs quest for a top 4 finish should finally have legs. Everton have added some bodies in the last couple of days while signing Steven Defour would add quality - if the deal goes through.

Birmingham, Stoke and Hull have all added some depth/cover to their squads in case of injury and Portsmouth's self-imposed transfer embargo was finally ended - although even that was fairly boring. Ben-Haim should be a good Distin replacement in fairness. Apparently Burnley have signed David Nugent on loan from Portsmouth and in totally unrelated news this blogger lost a little bit of respect for Owen Coyle.

I thought I'd wait until Arsenal were in full swing to really analyse them, and despite my insistence that Wenger had to sign a defensive midfielder the Gooners are flying. Wenger's 4-5-1 formation has given Fabregas licence to roam as well as giving the defence a decent amount of protection.

The formation though does slightly compromise Robin Van Persie in particular as he often ends up leading the line. Wenger could switch Bendtner to the centre and Van Persie to the right wing which might put both players more in their comfort zones - but could come at a cost to the team with Bendtner not as good on the ball as Van Persie and the Dutchman more likely to get frustrated at a lack of ball on the wing.

With Diaby, Denilson and Song all starting the season well it may be that Wenger is happy to sacrifice some attacking balance for defensive solidity. After all the Gunners have already found the net 15 times in 4 matches.

But even the staunchest Gooner knows that it won't always be this easy - the opposition will get harder in Europe and Portsmouth are the worst team in the league right now. I like Wenger's innovative (for Arsenal) system and it will be interesting to see how Theo Walcott and Samri Nasri fit in (i.e. will both be wide options or will Nasri return to the centre).

With this formation or without a still think Arsene Wenger has missed a trick. Strangely it was a trick he knew all about. One player who would fit seamlessly into either formation and improve the side in both is Wilson Palacios. It's well documented that Wenger recommended him to Steve Bruce which kick-started the Honduran's successful Premier League career. It's slightly strange that Wenger didn't consider him good enough for Arsenal at the time, given the likes of Amaury Bischoff were.

Giving the old master the benefit of the doubt though he may have thought Palacios didn't quite have just the one or two attributes to compete at the top level. After hugely impressing at Wigan though it was obvious he did, and one performance I saw in a Carling Cup defeat against Arsenal was truly excellence despite being surrounded by mediocrity. Wenger should have bid for him and given Palacios' debt for the Wigan move he would undoubtedly be an Arsenal player by now. Instead he has been key in propelling Tottenham to the league summit.

By Michael Sinnerton

As a Liverpool fan I can barely bring myself to blog about the start of the season. With Alonso gone, and Benitez so far refusing to drop Gerrard back into midfield the Reds look pretty average. A poor pre-season, particularly results wise and a not-fully fit Fernando Torres have led to as many defeats in three games as befell us last year. It is hoped a more gung-ho style of football, particularly at Anfield, would turn a multitude of draws into wins. It was never likely to be that easy though, as last seasons 4-4 with Arsenal perhaps indicated.

As ever in the Premiership the first goal is absolutely vital and once you concede first it really can be a struggle. Especially at home and it showed yesterday when Liverpool poured forward in the second half only to struggle to break down Villa's two banks of 4 (sometimes banks of 5). When they finally did thanks in no small part to the promising Emiliano Insua, Stephen Gerrard made a fool of himself, allowing Villa to deliver the knockout blow that so many small town DJ's fear.

-           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -

There have been some fairly strange transfer moves this summer but Sol Campbell to Notts County tops them all. Signing Sven in a director of football position seems to have already paid off for the Magpies with the signing of a player who five years ago was considered one of England's best.

Headlines like: Sol signs five-year Magpies deal would two months ago have been seen as a shrewd signing by Newcastle or a strange sponsorship move for the Mexican beer. The goings on at County however makes the move slightly less surprising with the black and whites sitting top of League Two. Unless Campbell has completely lost it, he should be an absolute rock at this level, and possibly an occasional goal-scorer from corners. Presumably too he's making an absolute shipload of cash, something which won't surprise Tottenham supporters.

By Michael Sinnerton

Stewart Downing's transfer from Middlesbrough to Aston Villa has been criticised by many Aston Villa fans and laughed at by fans of other clubs. I think Downing is a good enough player to be a big success at Villa and he is a victim of being not quite good enough to play for England.

As this blog already pointed out Downing created 72 chances last season (Daily Telegraph stats) compared to Antonio Valencia: 70 and Wayne Rooney: 67. Whilst Valencia's move to United has been praised and is generally accepted as a good move even at the overpriced cost of £18m, Downing's £6m cheaper move isn't held in quite the same slight. This despite Downing creating more chances in a weaker team, who presumably had less of the ball, certainly than Wayne Rooney if not Valencia. I do agree with Joel's assertion that the loss of Martin Laursen could prove huge for Villa though.

I do worry that Villa's squad is becoming a touch lop-sided though, with 3 excellent wing options in Downing, Young and Milner off-set by the loss of Gareth Barry leaving a soft centre to their team. Only Petrov, Reo-Coker and Sidwell offer any real strength through the centre and arguably Martin O'Neill needs to add one top class player to play with one or two of those (depending on formation).

- - - - - - - - - -

Will Arsenal fans have any sense of betrayal if Patrick Viera joins Spurs? Or do they accept that Viera was a great player for the club and having lost probably 30% of his effectiveness is now a good fit for a Spurs team who are still, despite spending and spending, some way behind them on the pitch. Are Tottenham fans as under whelmed by this transfer as me? Either way Harry's activity doesn't seem to offer much hope to Tom Huddlestone - another young English prospect pushed aside for an ageing foreign import.

By Michael Sinnerton

This week has seen some of the craziest stories of the season. Here are my favourites.

• 1) BBC Sport: Ex-England footballer Paul Gascoigne has said that football clubs should not stop players from drinking.

This titbit, which is more ridiculous than Joseph Fritzl offering parenting advice, came following Harry Redknapp's vow to ban alcohol following Ledley King's arrest on Sunday morning.

"It's a little lesson for Ledley King. That's OK. He'll learn from that, there's not a problem, leave the kid alone. What can you do?" said the self-confessed wife-beater about the man arrested on suspicion of GBH.

• 2) Simple but brilliant. The French club Le Mans have just appointed Arnaud Cormier as their manager, with Yves Bertucci serving as his assistant. At the beginning of the season, Bertucci himself was the manager - and his assistant was...wait for it ... Arnaud Cormier.

• 3) (Taken from FourFourTwo.com.) Boca Juniors' hooligan group has begun unofficially offering services to tourists by taking them into the stadium and keeping an eye on them. For a total charge of just £50, apparently less than tourists are usually fleeced, the visitors also get a courtesy call the next day to make sure they had a good time. I wonder if the Glazers might try it.

By Michael Sinnerton

Footballers have managed to get themselves in the news for all the wrong reasons again this week. First Nicklas Bendtner was pictured leaving a London nightclub at 4am on Wednesday, something which goes some way to justifying Arsene Wenger's claims that some of his young stars were in for a marvellous performance that evening. Bendtner's reputation took a boost inside the club when onlookers saw him take some of his most potent shots in weeks. Amusingly whilst the ‘great' Dane has apologised, Wenger, luckily having seen footage of the action having ‘not seen it' at the time, has claimed Bendtner was set-up.

"I was angry - but he has been set up," Wenger said. "People make the story that he was drunk. He was not drunk. He did not put his trousers down, somebody did it for him and somebody was posted there with a camera."

Bendtner's late night made it Arsenal's second humiliating exit of the week, with a source in the Mail saying: "Nicklas was with a group of friends inside the club, and just seemed to want to wind down after his match. But for some reason, his belt was undone as left at 4am and his pants started to slip."

Ledley King, of course, is only fit enough for one night out a week. Tottenham insiders were said to be pleased that King had made it through the action unscathed, especially as there is still the matter of Gareth Bale's victory night out next weekend...or the weekend after...or..

King's ‘chronic knee injury' that prevents him training may well be the new metatarsal with rumours of similar injuries for Dimitar Berbatov, Robinho and Marlon King yet to be confirmed.

by Joe Walton

Martin O'Neil and Harry Redknapp last night showed why they are such well regarded managers by masterminding their clubs' safe passage out of the UEFA Cup.

Both managers sprung selection surprises to bamboozle their opponents into victory. The policy of selecting youth paid off to wow the fans who have paid hundreds of pounds following their teams around the continent in a gloriously unfulfilling campaign.

Speaking after the game O'Neil said: "We had to make changes to the team to ensure that we left Europe in order to concentrate on our league position and qualify for Europe." Villa picked a team lacking 8 regular starters for the away tie against CSKA Moscow, one of the best teams in Eastern Europe, to ensure they were fit for the mouth-watering visit of Stoke on Sunday.

Redknapp was equally aware of the need to prioritise, he said: "Look, I had to make changes to my team. I wasn't going to risk my best players for a second rate competiton, I need them for the Carling Cup." The Carling Cup represents something of a failure for Redknapp, his team meet Manchester UTD in the final despite his best efforts. Who can forget the brilliant way a weakend Spurs team conceded first to Watford, only to blow it all and come back to win.

These two managers must be applauded for taking these tough, long term decisions. After all what do we expect of these mega-rich, super-fit football players? For them to play football?

By Michael Sinnerton 

In a shocking deadline-day twist Tottenham made two late undisclosed bids for Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick. Daniel Levy, through a mouth full of linguini, muttered they were not trying to recreate the team that suffered through pasta-gate. Late moves for Anthony Gardner and Steed Malbranque were mooted but not made in time and may be relived in the summer.

Asked whether it mattered that Tottenham seemed to be moving backward rather than forwards, Levy snapped "We're spending money aren't we?!" David Bentley and Luka Modric have been marginalised and Redknapp is hoping for a line up of: Gomes;Chimbonda;King;Dawson;Assou-Ekoto;Lennon;Jenas;Zokora;Bale;Keane;Defoe. Club sources are said to be heartbroken, and frankly surprised, that Blackburn wouldn't part with Paul Robinson.

Martin Jol has refused to comment on speculation linking him with the job, only muttering under his breath "we should have had the chilli" over and over.

22:18: Pickles the cat settles down on my chest ready for MOTD.

22:23: Carson does a Carson. He always does that.

22:25: Pickles runs away because I wasn't paying her enough attention.

22:26: Carson makes a great save, but it's too late because he's already fucked everything up.

22:29: Tony Mowbray looks like a haunted Robbie Keane.

22:33: The studio pundits are looking fantastically orange.

22:35: Liverpool's vile match against Stoke is inexplicably up second. I hope they show Gerralt's dive.

22:39: Record signing Kitson misses another chance and has yet to score for Stoke, who should probably buy someone slightly more expensive to stop him from being the record signing.

22:41: £20m striking sensation Robbie Keane remains on the bench at the expense of 1) a clearly unfit Torres, 2) the lumbering Ryan Babel, 3) Benitez not fancying bringing on a third sub.

22:42: The MOTD propaganda machine fails to show Gerralt's spectacular dive.

22:44: Benitez has started to go a little bit mental.

22:48: Phil Brown is wearing an elaborate scarf which sort of looks like a big snake wrapped around his neck.

22:49: Marouane Fellaini scores, in spite of his hair being a good yard offside.

22:56: The post-match interviews are filmed in Shakeycam.

22:57: Mikel Arteta appears to be wearing makeup and looks like a beautiful lady.

23:03: Owen has yet another "he usually scores those" moment.

23:05: The commentator keeps bleating on about how West Ham v Newcastle games usually average four goals in an unconvincing effort to disguise the fact that all their commentary is dubbed on afterwards.

23:07: In a borderline racist statement, the commentator says that players from Italy are good at protesting their innocence.

23:09: The racially confused Andy Carroll scores an equaliser. The man looks like a complete tool.

23:16: Ricky Sbragia looks like one of those characters from Beauty and the Beast that were transformed from an inanimate object into a living creature by magic.

23:29: Gareth Southgate appears to have styled his hair like Kazuya from Tekken.

23:35: Gary Megson names only four substitutes who he encouragingly describes as 'just free transfers and kids".

Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro  Lawro