It's too early to speculate… but it's a forgone conclusion

Two games into the Premier League campaign most bar room discussions are spoilt by the phrase, "We'll see, there's a long way to go." 

Of course we'll see, and of course there's a long way to go but 'tis the season to be speculative, so I'll to stick my neck out and say that I think Chelsea and Wigan will remain in their current positions (1st and 20th) for the whole season.

Wigan are no strangers to a relegation scrap and their time may finally be up. Many admired chairman Dave Whelan for gambling on the  young and largely unproven Roberto Martinez from Swansea City prior to the start of the 2009/10 season.

Martinez's Wigan made an unpredictable start last season, beating Villa  and Chelsea yet losing to newly promoted Wolves. Now it seems they have finally found some consistency - they're always rubbish.

Whipping boys

Rarely does an established Premier League side get labelled a season's "whipping boys", but Wigan went on to lose 4-0 to Portsmouth, Bolton and Arsenal, 5-0 twice to United, 8-0 to Chelsea and 9-1 to Spurs. 

It's often noted that it's not the games against the big teams that will keep a side up but it's clear that Wigan know how to drop their heads and, having conceded 10 goals in two games so far this season, the damage may already done. They'll not be looking forward to the prospect of facing Spurs at White Hart Lane this Saturday.

The top of the table is a somewhat different matter; so closely matched are Chelsea and Manchester United. However, with Carlo Ancelotti's free-scoring Blues enjoying a straightforward start to the season, they already find themselves two points in front with a goal difference of +12.

Perfect start

Ancelotti claimed that last season's title was won in the first six games, during which his side made a perfect start, and Manchester United dropped only 3 points - away at Burnley - and eventually just a single point separated the top two.

Chelsea's next three fixtures pit them against Stoke, who they beat 7-0 last time, West Ham and Blackpool. But, by the time they visit Manchester City for their first real test on September 25, United will have had to face both Liverpool and Everton.

Obviously, an easy start means the rest of Chelsea's season will be all the more difficult. But having hit the ground running, the Blues' bandwagon will be difficult to stop and, with Sir Alex Ferguson showing increasing faith in ageing, evergreen players, his United side could find it just as difficult to keep up.

Will long-term inconsistencies come back to haunt Spurs?

Hunter Davies' novel The Glory Game gives a behind-the-scenes account of a season with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in the early 1970s. The book is still thought to hold relevance today as, despite the ever-changing world of football, many core aspects remain the same; rising wages, dodgy refereeing decisions, dressing room banter etc.

In the book, written in 1972, Alan Mullery says: "With Spurs, I think we could do with a bit more of the killer instinct. Players will go out on the field when we're playing sides at the bottom of the league in a sort of complacent frame of mind."

Anyone who watched the Champions League qualifier between Spurs and Young Boys will know exactly what I'm getting at here; 40 years ago, Tottenham were prone to underestimating the opposition. Last Tuesday indicated that nothing much has changed.

So, can Spurs fans take any positives at all from Tuesday night? Well, yes actually...

1. The result - It couldn't be better really. We two away goals and the fact we're still one goal down could work in our favour. The manner of the result wasn't ideal but the side now know we have to go out to attack and not defend, which means we can play to our strengths. As Spurs fans, we will be only too aware that any sort of lead, especially a comfortable one, at this stage is a dangerous thing. 

2. Pav's finish - Roman Pavlyuchenko was one of a number of players to have a terrible game on Tuesday. He looked lazy, off the pace and couldn't hold his own the ball up. But his explosive finish for our second goal was a great encouragement. Precise, powerful and when we desperately needed it. We just need to see it a bit more often.

3. Timely reminder- Bemoaning the pitch or the preparation is neither here nor there. Our boys choked under the pressure on Tuesday. We never expected Young Boys to be able to pass around us and their opener was a shock that nearly knocked us for six. But, having been out of Europe's elite competition for so long, it's an important lesson to learn early on. Everyone is a threat. Hopefully it'll stand us in good stead.

4. It's still progress - Just to sign off, I thought it worth pointing this out. In three of the last five seasons, Spurs have finished 5th or higher. Prior to 2005/06, our highest-ever Premier League finish was 7th. To not qualify for the Champions League proper would be a major disappointment but we're clearly headed very much in the right direction...

Let's just hope that Alan Mullery's words don't ring true once again come Wednesday night.

Premier League opener puts football back in safe hands

Prior to Saturday's Premier League opener, you would have been forgiven for forgetting just what football is about.

After a summer dogged by whining and controversy, think vuvuzelas, goalkeeping blunders, boring football and bizarre refereeing decisions, Spurs v Man City came as a welcome reminder of what we'd all been missing.

Attacking football, played in a red hot atmosphere with an audience blissfully unaware of the man with the whistle, so seldom did he make a peep.

Referee Andre Marriner was an asset in his ambiguity, leaving the game to flow and giving rise to a forgotten spectacle as a goalkeeper was the star of the show.

City's usual keeper Shay Given may be trusty old padlock, well-versed at keeping intruders at bay, but Joe Hart proved to be a hackproof new-age security system in City's defensive firewall.

Following a summer of dropped crosses and goal-line gaffes, the Premier League looked set to banish the World Cup hangover for good.

Until Sunday, that is, when Joe Cole's red card and Jose Reina's howler provided some hair of the dog to keep us all from getting carried away.

Joe Cole - red or dead?

Joe Cole has always been good to watch. A creative player who likes to show off, he rarely wins possession but might just win you a few points. Add to this the fact he's a Londoner and he's injury prone and you'll see why I always saw him as a perfect fit for Tottenham.

With his old mentor Harry Redknapp in charge at White Hart Lane, I never doubted that this summer would see Cole make the switch across London to the Lilywhites. In fact, Redknapp himself has hinted that he thought a deal was done and dusted. So why Liverpool?

The obvious, and most cynical, answer is money. Despite taking a pay cut, Cole's wages are too high for Spurs or Arsenal. Neither would break their wage structures on such an unpredictable acquisition.

Under-achieving

Tottenham fans, however, would forgive his misgivings, happy to see the odd clever flick reach its target or stunning strike rustle the net. Arsenal fans would be happy just to see their side splash some cash. But Liverpool will be a baptism of fire – the club is under-achieving, their Championship title record is on the line and the fans are fed up.

So has Cole in fact shown some bravery in taking the most difficult option?

It would have been very easy to scoot across London and spend half the season on the bench hiding any injuries or dips in form behind a rotation of other classy midfielders. 

Quickly found out

Roy Hodgson, and of course the Yanks, will not be paying all that money to leave him on the bench, so if Cole is not the complete player they are expecting him to be, or is not fit enough for a solid season's hard work, then he will be quickly found out.

In going to Liverpool, he has guaranteed first-team football and is giving himself the chance to prove he is as good a footballer as his potential suggested. 

Where he will fit in at Anfield, and why they need him, is another matter altogether. A creative midfielder is usually a commodity afforded by only the best sides but Liverpool need much more than a touch of genius and the odd point to get where they want to go.

Who would miss the point in Pompey wind-up?

If Portsmouth Football Club is wound up before the end of the season, a very real possibility according to experts, then all their fixtures and results will be null and void, all the points they have won and lost would be scrubbed off and teams in and around the drop zone would all slide down a place.

Pompey would be no more, living on only in memory. But, far from them sinking without trace, the south coast side's swansong would be to have a significant bearing on every single aspect of this season's final Premier League standings.

This would obviously be a disaster but would have a varied effect on every team and reactions will no doubt differ depending on circumstances.

At the time of writing, West Ham lie four points above the relegation zone but would slide towards the bottom three if Portsmouth meet their maker. With this in mind, Hammers owner David Gold has offered the club a financial lifeline in a bid to keep his own side unaffected, claiming he wants to see the struggling side "down, but not bust."

You would imagine that most of the other teams battling the drop would agree with Mr Gold. Some teams at the top end, however, may not be so sympathetic to the cause.

In the event of club closure, Manchester United would have to hand back the 6 points won against Pompey, not to mention a goal difference of eight.

And that's a mouth-watering prospect for rivals Chelsea. The league leaders would only lose three points and a goal difference of one and - even though it would leave them one less fixture - it would all but hand the Blues the title.

With such an opportunity to break the Red Devil's three-year grasp on the Premier League trophy, you can hardly see Chelsea shedding a tear for Pompey.

Then there's the tightly contested fight for fourth spot and Liverpool, after a season dogged by doubts and dirt, will be on tenterhooks as Pompey's demise would see their three rivals fall down around them.

Man City currently lie fourth but would lose six points along with Aston Villa. Spurs would lose three but Liverpool, who registered a 2-0 loss at Fratton Park in December, would merely improve their goal difference, leaving them well in the driving seat for a Champions League place.

The best Portsmouth can hope for is relegation to the Championship. It is a shame that, so early in the season, they have become a statistical playtoy as the press accumulate and speculate at their expense.

Worse still, if West Ham continue their good form - they have lost only one of their last six in the league - then David Gold's kind offer may be swiped from the table and, regardless what anyone stands to lose or gain from the situation, if Portsmouth fold before the end of the season they would leave behind a horrible, horrible mess.

Will off-pitch soap operas soil otherwise special season?

The football world has conjured its fair share of controversy since I last put finger to keyboard on the subject. Over the summer there were high-profile, and high stakes, moves for both Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and the 2009-2010 season has so far seen Liverpool in disarray consequently sparking a wide-open fight for fourth spot.

It is off the pitch, though, that 2010 looks to excel and it is this that has made me think I really need to keep this blog updated, having already missed numerous shocking and scandalous stories.

Firstly there was, and still is, Portsmouth. A club savaged by previous misdealings and sadly a side set to reap the punishment of an ill-advised wage structure.

Today is the last day of the transfer window and, with Younes Kaboul now returning to Tottenham for £5million, they may have safeguarded their immediate future as a club but their Premier League expiration date looks certain to be this coming May.

What have they got to show for all the strife? A short golden age and a replica FA Cup in the trophy cabinet. Admittedly, these are dreams that some clubs in modern-day football may never realise, so whether it was worth it can only be determined by how far they eventually fall.

More recently, Owen Coyle reminded the world that, in the Premier League at least, it seems loyalty is a dish best thrown in the face of those that worship you. He ditched Burnley's Premier League adventure at a vital stage. With the honeymoon period over, the Clarets needed to dig a big set of heels into the turf to halt their slide towards the precipice.

Instead they've had the pitch pulled from under them. What Burnley need now is their fans to look to what they have and concentrate on a season they are still very much involved with, when many initially predicted they would be dead and buried by this stage.

On an international level, the African Cup of Nations made headlines when the Togo team bus came under siege from gunmen. Players were shot, the driver killed, terrible trauma followed mass hysteria and how do the Confederation of African Football (CAF) react? They have sanctioned the Togo team for pulling out of the tournament by banning them from the next two competitions. Cue a rather large lawsuit that African football can surely do without in the run up to the World Cup in South Africa this Summer.

Then there's John Terry. A court injunction which prohibited the printing of details of his recent affair was lifted on Friday afternoon and opened the floodgates for a wave of headlines to wash away the England captain's reputation.

Pressure is growing in today's tabloids for Terry to stand down as England captain and save manager Fabio Capello from having to get involved and make a big decision. Then would come the inevitable debate over who should take over and that would mean shifting the focus back to on-the-pitch performances.

Many will say it is too soon for Wayne Rooney to be given the England armband. They're probably right but the artful destroyer is in the form of his life having just hit his Premier League century. If the England captaincy is on his wish list, you would not bet against him.