It troubles me that we are no longer setting the pace of this debate. It appears to me that Liewell gets to let his belly rumble, quoting all sorts of dross about ever-growing markets, a worldwide fanbase, Celtic's special place in the big picture and exciting new opportunities to be explored, then Bain grabs hold of his coat-tails and the Rangers drift along in his wake. What would you give for a Chief Executive with a bit of imagination, with a forward-thinking brain of his own, capable of taking our club forward as a major power in our own right, rather than just being a bit-part player in an unhealthy partnership?
For all the hot air being blown about us joining the FA Premier League, it is looking more and more likely that, if we turn our back on our current Mickey Mouse League, we will get into bed with the Dutch, the Belgians, the Portuguese and the Scandinavians, mainly because they need us more than the English. Only if Sky TV rock the boat and threaten to slash the dosh if the EPL is not more receptive to our presence will there be any change in the set-up South of the border.
The North Atlantic League might appear to be a radical option but, if it lets the English continue to roll in the folding stuff, while also enabling clubs like Ajax , Anderlecht, Porto, Gothenburg and Scotland 's number one outfit to fully maximise their drawing power, it is surely a perfectly agreeable alternative.
Recognising that the first eight rounds of the SPL campaign have been nothing short of dire should be enough to set the breakaway ball rolling. Those in any doubt about the quality we should aspire to need only check out the football on show on the BBC each Saturday and Sunday night. Match Of The Day is compulsive viewing every weekend.
Hardly surprisingly, the chief topic of debate in the Premier League has not been the possibility of Us and Them joining but the likelihood of another club gate-crashing the big four of Chelsea, Man.Utd., Arsenal and Liverpool. While Everton and Aston Villa have threatened in recent years, impressive starts by Man.City and Tottenham have made life a bit more interesting this time around and, although recent results have suggested normal service has resumed, the months ahead promise much.
Already in the opening month or so there were some absolutely cracking matches. Tottenham-Liverpool, Man.Utd.-Arsenal, Bolton-Liverpool, Man.City-Arsenal, Tottenham-Man.Utd., Man.Utd.-Man.City, to name just half a dozen, with every one of the afore-mentioned games showing an inclination to go either way before the results were settled, are just the sort of stuff which make the fitba well worth watching.
Sure, Alan Hansen might moan a bit about the quality of the defensive play but, c'mon, wouldn't you rather have an end-to-end seven goal thriller than a 1-0 bore? Well, just so long as it isn't the Rangers who end up 4-3 losers.
Having lost their way after Jose's departure, Chelsea looked like they'd finally got their act together, although it must be said that the early fixture list was fairly kind to them. Aberations at Wigan and Villa put previous comfortable wins over Tottenham and Liverpool into some perspective. Everybody must be looking forward to their clash with Man.Utd. at Stamford Bridge on November 8 and the visits to Arsenal (Nov.29) and Man.City a week later come into the 'must see' category.
Yet again Man.Utd. are setting the pace. They have recovered well from their shock defeat at Burnley to push ahead of Chelsea but they were a bit lucky to beat both Arsenal and Man.City and if the breaks start to go against them they could find themselves shipping some points. But Fergie has done well to shrug off the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez and the signing of Michael Owen could prove to be a real coup. His days of being a 90 minute man are over but he will always do a bit of damage as a late sub, just as he did in the Manchester derby, and I'd fancy him to finish the season on the 15/20 goal mark.
Like all Bears, I couldn't fail to be impressed by the makeshift Arsenal side at the Emirates Cup and they again caught the eye when they put an end to all that nonsense about FC Semtex qualifying for the Champions League. However, back to back defeats from the Manchester clubs have asked serious questions about their ability to get results in the 'big' games and there have also been suggestions, not without justification, that the likes of Blackburn, Stoke and Villa might be capable of muscling them out of games. Until they get a Patrick Vieira figure to put himself about in midfield, all their clever football might come to nothing.
Not so very long ago Scousers were talking about this being the year Liverpool finally finish on top of the heap but early defeats from Tottenham, Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland have rekindled all the same old doubts. Being so clearly outplayed at Stamford Bridge underlined their shortcomings and, although Benitez continues to make positive noises, I reckon Liverpool have already left themselves too much to do, even this early in the season.
Man.City's spending power looks like it has, at long last, delivered a team. Defeat to Man. Utd. was a big blow to morale but they know how close they came to getting a result and, although still overloaded up-front, it wouldn't surprise me if they broke into the top four. Results between now and the turn of the year will tell the story and, if they are being found out in one particular area of the pitch, they will surely put it right during the January transfer window.
Similarly, Harry Redknapp looks like he has transformed Tottenham from a bunch of blokes who wear the same colour of jerseys into a real fitba team. Losing to Man.Utd. and Chelsea will have hit them hard and their season could be determined by how they respond to those setbacks. Much will hinge on the build-up to their Hallowe'en trip to the Emirates and they must feel they can get things back on track for the big North London derby. On a personal note, it is very disappointing to hear Alan Hutton getting it in the neck from the White Hart Lane boo-boys. Apparently 'Arry doesn't fancy Hutts so it would be best for all concerned if our man found himself a new club in January. Don't bet against David Moyes taking him to Everton.
The Goodison Park outfit made a terrible start to the season but their forthcoming fixtures are hardly too demanding and they should have climbed well up the table by the time they go to Old Trafford on November 21. And Aston Villa wouldn't have bargained for an opening day home defeat from Wigan Athletic but they recovered brilliantly to win at Liverpool, then to beat Chelsea, so it looks like they've put the early disappointment behind them. With Man.City, Chelsea and Everton all on their October schedule, Villa's place in the pecking order will be clearer by the end of the month but their ambitions, like those of Everton, are probably limited to squeezing into the Europa League, although O'Kneel has tended to treat that competition and its UEFA Cup predecessor with nothing short of contempt.
The Premier League is made up of several leagues within a league and I class West Ham, Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton to be in a lower mid-table group, unlikely to push into the top group but relatively safe from relegation. But all it would take is a bad run of three or four defeats on the trot to suck them into the drop zone and the corresponding loss of confidence could leave them struggling to pull clear. Just ask Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park! And having expected a lot from Wigan under Roberto Martinez, they too will be mighty glad to have put an iffy spell behind them..
With Burnley filling the Hull City shock-troops role from last season and Birmingham and Wolves looking far from certs for the drop, the pressure is on the likes of Portsmouth (I think they've gone already!), Hull, Sunderland and Stoke to get points on the board ASAP to give themselves some breathing space. Once they get cut adrift at the bottom, the gap just becomes too formidable and my money is already on Pompey to have nothing more than a pre-season victory over the famous Glasgow Rangers to look back on with any sense of achievement.
Yet again I'm going for Chelsea for the title - they have to get it right at some point! - with Man.City pushing into the top four, probably at Liverpool 's expense. Last season I tipped City for the F.A.Cup, only for them to go out to Nottingham Forest in the Third Round (duh!), but I don't think they will be far away this time around, with Tottenham maybe enjoying a good cup run while other fancied clubs will be involved in Europe . And just to spread the honours around, I'm going for Arsenal's young guns to bring the club's trophy famine to an end in the League Cup.
The relegation battle will be a real war of attrition, Portsmouth have already left themselves too much to do, Hull City won't enjoy the luck they carried last season and, if they don't get their away form sorted out, Burnley may well find themselves battling for survival in April and May.
Once more, I expect the Premier League to dominate in Europe . They've had three of the four semi-finalists in each of the past three seasons and, just so long as the knock-out draw keeps them clear of the Rangers, they are likely to be similarly well represented this time around. As is the norm, Barcelona will be the team to beat but I fancy Chelsea are long overdue a break in the Champions League. Yes, this could be Ancelotti's year both at home and abroad.
This weekend us Bears have the novelty of a three o'clock Saturday afternoon kick-off which makes life much more agreeable but, no matter where I find myself swallying over Saturday and Sunday night, the recorder will be primed for Match Of The Day and, with the Liverpool-Man.Utd match on the menu, I'm expecting to be throughly entertained when I get round to watching the action.
If only somebody at Ibrox had envisaged where English football was going in the immediate aftermath of their post-Heysel ban, we could be in there with all the glamour boys, as big as any of their top six or seven, living up to our tag as the most successful club in the world, instead of engaging in speculation about where we might be playing our football four or five years from now.
Never mind, bring on the HIVs!!! Ho-hum.