So, I have a confession to make.

As of around… *checks watch* five days ago, I no longer give a f*ck about Gareth Bale’s drawn-out rendition of The Clash. I shrug about journalistic sources saying he’s sure to go without any kind of quote attached, images of a man arriving to do his job (STOP THE PRESSES) or the general murmuring of “How are they possibly going to replace him?”

I’ve probably been a bit blunt. Let me try this another way.

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Well, the season has begun, and it was certainly an interesting opening weekend, with a couple of interesting results. And on Monday night, that trend continued, as Manchester City went on to thrash Newcastle United 4-0 in front of a gleeful crowd at the Etihad.

The day started off poorly for the Geordies, as they were subject to a £10m bid from Arsenal for Yohan Cabaye, which, mainly due to the timing, Alan Pardew labelled as disrespectful post-match. For me, it’s more about the fee being disrespectful, simply because Arsenal knew they could turn his head because of the history and calibre of their club, and let’s be honest, £10m for Yohan Cabaye is an absolute joke. He won’t leave for anything less than double that, with Mike Ashley probably even looking for triple that fee, with his rumoured price tag being £30m by the Newcastle board. It’s a completely ‘derisory’ offer for a player of his quality. With this bid floating over his head, Yohan Cabaye was left out of the squad for the Manchester City game. And this morning, it has been rumoured that Newcastle are now only looking for £20m for their star midfielder. It certainly looks like one foot might be out the door. Read the rest of this entry →

Regardless of the furore surrounding Luis Suarez’s insistence that he shall not enter the new season as a Liverpool player, the Reds have encountered an unnervingly smooth start to their summer’s work. The low-key arrivals of Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto and Kolo Toure, as well as the capture of the highly-rated Sunderland stopper Simon Mignolet, have been complimented by two efficient performances against Preston North End, and in the rather more sapping climate of Indonesia, as they took on a Select XI and ended up 2-0 winners. What’s more, Steven Gerrard’s commitment to the club has been put into further writing as the Liverpool captain extended his contract by two years. Seldom have Liverpool been able to combine shrewd transfer dealings and sharp football so early in the footballing calendar, especially whilst the future of their prize asset remains in the balance.

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