The Season So Far...

Anyone bother to check the Premier League table after last night’s round of matches? Seven rounds have been completed, and Chelsea deservingly sits at the peak, sharing the spot with an unpredictable Liverpool side. While Chelsea has displayed the fantastic football we expect, Liverpool’s position upon the lofty perch is a bit questionable considering several weeks ago they backed up their win over Man United with a draw at home against the might of Stoke City.

Next on the ladder? Man United? Arsenal? Nope. Sitting in third place with a healthy 14 points from a possible 21 is Hull City. Admittedly, I didn’t expect them to get 14 points for the whole season, so hats off to Phil Brown and his men, who have shown a lot of energy in the several games I’ve seen of them.

Arsenal and Villa, probably an accurate indication of their final season standing, round out the top five. Man United are still there or thereabouts, a little off the pace but with a game in hand. Watch for them to hang around the top, then fire on all cylinders come the New Year and make a belated charge up the ladder like they do every year.

Man City and all their riches have only bought nine points so far, and they could do worse than spend some of their cash on a decent defensive midfielder, as Hughsey’s method of four backs, one central defender playing out of position (Vincent Kompany as a def mid?!), and five strikers isn’t really working out for them.

And how about the bottom of the ladder? Newcastle third from bottom and Tottenham in last spot! The Magpies have had their fair share of internal troubles this year, with King Kev walking out (or getting fired, depending on who you listen to) after just four games, compounded by the appointment of the much hated and totally inept Dennis Wise into the head office. A fans’ revolt is on the cards, and the rumoured buyout by a South African consortium can not happen fast enough.

But how about Tottenham?! The rest of the league were cheering in admiration at the Spur’s spending during the summer, believing that finally someone was going to step up and challenge the top four. Now they are watching Tottenham with a sly smirk and wondering how low they can possibly go. Having brought in over 60 million pounds of new talent, there was an electric buzz around White Hart Lane in pre-season. However, Robbie Keane’s and Dimitar Berbatov’s surprising decisions to abandon ship knocked the stuffing out of the Londoners. Their only game of note was the hard fought 1-1 draw in the derby with Chelsea, and have had to endure demeanours such as home losses to Villa, Sunderland and most recently Hull.

Seven games into the season and this is actually looking like it’s going to be a pretty fun year. My Villa are flying high, and there’s an air of unpredictably about the League. There is much promise to the rest of the season, with everyone keeping an eye on Man City’s revolving door come the January transfer window, as well as wondering when Tottenham are going to wake up to themselves.

I can’t wait for next week.