With the best manager England have had since Bobby Robson, and the last chance for the so-called ‘golden generation’ England have a great chance to go further than the Quarter-Finals, or do they?

zidane inspired predator x from adidas

The latest in a long line of Adidas Predator football boots, the PredatorX has been unveiled today, described by the manufacturer as the ‘ultimate powerboot.’

The most famous boots in the world have been in production since 1992 and for the 10th generation of the footwear adidas has created the most evolved Predator ever under the guidance of a true legend in the game who knows all about power – Zinedine Zidane.

A revolutionary centre to the boot called the Powerspine reduces the reflex of the underside of the foot, minimising the energy lost when a player strikes the ball, transferring this energy to ensure maximum connection with the ball.   The result of this innovation is an additional 7% extra power versus the previous generation of Predator™ boots.

Sadly my playing days have long since passed, but I can’t help wondering if the latest product from Adidas would have beniffited me at all. I doubt it very much but I am none the less intrigued by a football boot that has been designed to ‘add swerve and control’ through bespoke technology.

Speaking at the launch of the boots Zidane said;
“Having worn Predators throughout my career, I’ve always been amazed with the continued product development and what each new version of the boot bought to my game. With Predator X, I’ve been working with adidas to help lend my football experience to their product knowledge to truly deliver the next step in boot technology. The Powerspine innovation ensures the boot will strike harder than any boot in the market.”

Predator X

The new boots will be available in the ‘classic’ colours of black, red and white and an ‘alternative’ colouring of white, yellow and black.

Top adidas sponsored footballers across the World will be wearing the boot from November onwards including Steven Gerrard, Karim Benzema, and Michael Ballack.

The Adidas Predator X football boots go on sale on November 14th, so parents can start saving now!

It is a powerful start for Tottenham, in direct contrast to this time last year when everything conspired against Juande Ramos who eventually lost his job at Spurs before taking control of Real Madrid for half a season.

One thing the experts all consider when talking about league winning teams is ‘depth of squad’ and Spurs must have the biggest in the league. For three seasons/managers at Spurs have bought about three players for every one they sell so there must be some squad still there.

That doesn’t stop Harry Redknapp from being linked to every player that enters the market, the latest football news says he is after buying Arjen Robben from Madrid. While there is little substance to the story it may be different if Spurs have maintained their form into the January transfer window.

If they are still top come January, Redknapp will be determined to show his skill in the attracting the best players to the club. It will be like me playing fantasy football for Harry, spend every penny available and to hell with the defence.

I wonder what the football betting odds are on Spurs to win the league, I wouldn’t bet against it, but it really is early days and lets face it anything can happen. I do expect a closer group of teams in the top six or eight this season, from the limited action I have seen most teams have shown improvement on last season.

However and not withstanding Arsenal’s fine result on Saturday, I am predicting that we will see the top four become six, and Liverpool will lead the pack. I do expect both Spurs and Manchester City to make a big impact this season and look forward to the fight with Arsenal to secure the fourth place.

At the other end newcomers Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley all have a win under their belt’s and what an incredible result it was for Burnley to beat the champions Manchester United.

Right now they are all pretty much unknown quantities and maybe capable of the odd surprise, but how regular will that become? I expect all three to be involved in the traditional end of season relegation battle  along with Stoke, Bolton and Hull, with the latter trio going down.

It all began with Man Utd’s 2-0 loss at Fulham on Saturday. It was clear that the champions would have to show a lot of character to pick up points again, yet all they could demonstrate was a lack of cohesion and ill-disciple amidst frustration. Roy Hodgson set his tactics perfectly from the off; not content to sit back and defend, his team pressurised every Manchester United pass and made them pay for careless errors and their two red cards.

This certainly added spice to the delayed Tottenham-Chelsea Premiership fixture across London. Yet knowing they could gain ground on the red devils failed to inspire Chelsea enough to gain points away from home. The 1-0 loss was Guus Hiddink’s first defeat with the club and the Stamford bridge faithful will have a severe case of the blues having missed out on this opportunity.

Liverpool, however, showed no such mercy to a weak, weary Villa squad. 3-0 up before half time the Kop revelled in the Reds utter domination of Martin O’Neill’s Champion League hopefuls. All the omens look good for Liverpool: Steven Gerrard has hit scintillating form, Fernando Torres is purring once more and Pepe Reina is the most in-form goalkeeper in the Premier League.

A lot will be said about momentum over the coming week, and sure, Liverpool have this in abundance. Yet it would take a lot of courage to bet against the holders Manchester United. With a defence which has broken all kinds of records this season and an enviable attacking arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson will surely be celebrating the title come May… if he can steady his ship through these stormy waters, that is.

A win for Fulham on the other hand would raise the Londoners from tenth to eighth in the premier league and they also have a further game in hand to play against Blackburn. Roy Hodgson is enjoying a good spell at Fulham who have already beaten Arsenal and drawn with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Chelsea this season.

The premier league fixture list for Saturday throws up what should be the cracking game of the weekend, the early kick off between third place Aston Villa and one time title favourites Chelsea. Villa’s rise up the table has been almost stealth like,  passing both Arsenal and Chelsea and they currently sit just three points behind second placed Liverpool.

A draw between Villa and Chelsea will be of no use to either team, so it is crucial for both teams that there is a winner. A win for Villa would be a fantastic result for Martin O’Neill’s team, levelling them on points  with Liverpool, who entertain Manchester City later the same afternoon. Anything less than a win for Chelsea will set up an amazing fight for the fourth place Champions league spot, with both Arsenal and Everton fancying their chances of edging the place from the Blues.

With the premiership news of Roman Ambramovich securing the services of the Russian  national coach, all eyes will be on new Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink at Villa Park, to see if he really does have the Midas touch or if he just got lucky with the teams that he has coached beyond their previous skill-set.  Chelsea will be making a huge ask to expect Hiddink to turn thing’s around in no time at all, although whatever the outcome, he will undoubtedly come out of it with his own reputation still in tact.

It is fair to say that Martin O’Neill is in a similar situation at Aston Villa, he has surpassed the expectations of even the most ardent of Villa’s fans in managing to break into the territory previously reserved for the top four teams. There is still some way to go and in a few weeks time Villa will have the chance to further their say on the Premier league outcome, when they face both Liverpool and Manchester United away in successive games.

Triesman raised the issue of enforcing a salary cap to the Premier League, saying that “A sensible form of [wage] restraint would make sense and it is not inconceivable. It’s very hard to do anything unless all parties want to do it and everyone needs to want to do it. Preferably without being compelled.”

He also outlined proposals for a radical shake up in the regulatory structure of the governing bodies in English Football, claiming that “We are too fragmented with too many bodies responsible for too many parts of the sport. Greater clarity is needed about who is responsible for the fitness and future of the game. A clear sports law could clarify the position. The time has come for a comprehensive sports law apportioning responsibility and accountability.”

In a week when Premier League attendances have come under intense scrutiny, much of what Triesman says makes financial sense. The game of football has improved immeasurably in England over the past decade or so, but what we now have is a game that is too expensive for the fans to watch on a weekly basis. Football stadiums have been given over to corporate hospitality where finance has hitherto not been an issue.

But this too is likely to change in the face of the credit crunch. It is time to rethink the financial rules, clubs should be made accountable and run as any other business, where income controls outgoings.

What do you think. Are footballers paid too much? Will football prosper through the financial crisis or will we see a collapse of football clubs that cannot survive the recession?

Failure of Steve McClaren, who’s proving to be just as bad at a dutch accent as he is at managing, to ensure England qualified for Euro2008 meant I spent three weeks of the summer just watching football without the anguish and emotional roller coaster ride of having to support your team, and to quote Katy Perry ‘I liked it’.

I must admit I was still looking forward to the announcement of the fixture list, that chance to find the opening and closing fixtures, pick out an away game or two to overnight too and live in hope the Boxing Day game will be at home offering at least some respite from the onslaught of Christmas festivities. As if punishment for having the temerity, others would also say luck, to have won the FA Cup in the previous season, the opening games looked hand picked to dish out swift justice for getting above ourselves. The nailed on nil pointers after three games stopped looking like Hull or Stoke and looked increasingly likely to be rather closer to home.

It did all start somewhat sooner than the Euro’s and the fixture list arrival, a couple of weeks after walking out of Wembley with the realisation I’d just seen Portsmouth win the FA Cup. Supporters of teams who roll up with silverware on a regular basis will not understand, but for me in winning the cup have I seen my personal pinnacle? Can things get any better? I’m maybe wrapped up in the old Portsmouth, the one found struggling away to Gillingham, overshadowed by our more successful neighbours and in as good a financial state as our dilapidated current ground is. It’s hard not to let go of what the past held.

Two out of three games down and on nil points along came Football’s very own natural Prozac, an away win at Everton and by three goals to nil. A somewhat flattering scoreline decreed some neutrals, and the MOTD team, but sparked up the hopes and interest for the season ahead. Gone the feeling that winning the cup was like sleeping with a supermodel, and then going back to the wife for the season after. I’m not back with the model just yet but I’m guessing you should never write off all hope.

The season kicked off at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal began with an unconvincing 1-0 win over one of the newly promoted team, West Brom. New boy Nasrim scored the opening goal after just four minutes but Arsenal were unable to hit the target again.

Stoke City found themselves on the end of a 3-1 thrashing from Bolton Wanders, which I think is a tell-tale sign of how the rest of their season is going to go.

By contrast, Hull City were involved in one of the biggest shocks of the day, as they were worthy winners against a revitalised Fulham.

As far as I am concerned, the biggest shock of the opening fixtures was Middlesborough beating the new look the Juandes Ramos Tottenham. I am one of those who believe Tottenham will be fighting it out with Arsenal for fourth position, come May. But after yesterday’s poor performance it looks like it could yet be another season of promise and expectancy that fizzles out before the Autumn for Spurs.

Starting the new season as they finished the last, Liverpool were reliant once again on Fernando Torres again to sneak a 1-0 win against a new look Sunderland at the Stadium Of Light.

Three games were played today, Chlesea v Portsmouth, Manchester United v Newcastle, and Aston Villa v Manchester City.

Manchester United were without Carlos Tevez as well as the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, as they began the defence of the Premiership title against Newcastle, who themselves were without strikers Michael Owen and Mark Viduka.

Newcastle stunned the Old Trafford sell-out crowd by taking the lead in the first-half with a stunning header from Obafemi Martens.  Unfortunately for Kevin Keegan, the lead only lasted for 45 seconds before Darren Fletcher slotted home the equaliser.

Manchester United looked a little more threatening on the break as the game became stretched in the second half, but they were definitely missing firepower upfront.  But don’t forget Manchester United started last season with a disappointing draw with Reading before they went on to retain the Premier League & be crowned Champions Of Europe.  With Ronaldo out ofr the next few weeks at least, today’s result will probably speed up the transfer of Dmitar Berbatov.

The last two Chelsea managers have allegedly lost their jobs because owner Roman Abramovich wants Chelsea to play exciting football AND win trophies. Felippe Scholari has manged Brazil and Portugal and said he wants Chelsea to play like Brazil; and in their opening game against Portsmouth, they did just that. The confidence, movement and fluidity, especially of the midfield quartet of Deco, Ballack, Lampard and Joe Cole was beautiful to watch and completely mesmorising for the first 45 minutes as far as Portsmouth were concerned.

Brazilian born, Portugal international Deco was rightly voted Man Of The Match. He was the main driving force in blue and capped his Premier League performance off with a fantastic strike from about 30 yards out to give Chelsea a convincing 4-0 win. A win that was greeted with a smile from Roman Abramovich and puts Chelsea on top of the Premier League.

Joe Cole inherited the number 10 shirt but it looks like Deco may be the obvious replacement for Gianfranco Zola.

In the other game today, Aston Villa beat Manchester City 4-2 with a seven-minute hat-trick from Gabriel Agbonlahor and a good performance from Gareth Barry.

All in all, a great start to what I m hoping will be an exciting new Premier League season.

Hicks and Gillette must be secretly hoping for Barry to play this evening, and turn the attention of their unwillingness (quite possibly justifiable) to part with a large sum of money for a player they envisage to have little or no resale value. In today’s accountant driven game, a players value on the pitch is not so easily quantifiable by the ’suits’ as the prospect of a possible future transfer fee, however much success his presence on the pitch brings.

Martin O’Neil annoyed already at the manner of Liverpool’s approaches may wish to prolong the agony of the Liverpool owners by merely naming Barry as a substitute and waiting till injury time to enter Barry to the remaining 60 seconds of match action.

The target in the longest transfer saga of the summer is of course Ronaldo, who’ll no doubt be back to badge kissing and adulation from the Man Utd fans quicker than you can say ‘if it wasn’t for an ankle injury’.

There is the argument he’s far too good not be appreciated but you get the feeling that winning is everything to them. If a call went out for a supply of grannies for a players personal perusual in exchange for a winning goal in the Champions League, the retirement homes of the home counties would be a whole lot quieter place.

I can see there being a split at Villa Park with regard to Barry should he stay but I can hardly see a dent in the procession of number seven shirts exciting their megastore as forgive and forget seems the way ahead.

The new season is due to kick off this Saturday at 12.30 BST with Falkirk entertaining Rangers.

The SRA met with SPL officials yesterday, but ended with no agreement, although both parties are hopeful of resolving the issue today (Tuesday).

Scottish referees are paid a set fee of £575 per game and have been promised an extra £25, but they are holding out for £800 per match to come into line with other European countries.

English Premier league referees are paid a retainer of £33,000 plus £300 per match in fees.

Former Scottish referee Kenny Clark says that it’s not about the money particularly, but more about the pressure that officials  are under in the modern game.

It is fair to say that referees are generally under more pressure than ever these days, something that the English FA are very aware of with the launch of their pre-season respect the ref campaign.  The Euro 2008 tournament showed how games could be played with the minimum amount of diving, play acting, shirt pulling and general gamesmanship that we have come to expect in the UK, I am hoping for more of the same in the SPL and EPL this season.

So lets give the officials the rewards they deserve and we may all feel much better for it come the end of the season.