It's true that I'm not a Chelsea fan and yes, I do wish my club had your financial backing and of course I wish my team had won the Premiership last season. But that's not why I'm glad Chelsea lost on Saturday. It's much simpler than that, and more complimentary to Chelsea.

The reason that I'm glad Chelsea lost on Saturday is that is shows they CAN lose. It shows the league is open and any one of a number of teams have a chance of winning it. Because up until this week, although we are only a few games in, Chelsea looked amazing. Brilliant. Unstoppable.

They've had a raft of great players for several years. After a shaky start - as newly put together teams always do - they had gelled into a solid and impressive team, so much so that last season they rightfully won the title.

But even the performance last season pales against the start to this one. As not only a non-Chelsea fan but someone who actively dislikes Chelsea (having been spat on by the home fans above me at Stamford Bridge) it takes a lot for me to admit it, but Chelsea have been absolutely stunning in the first games of this season.

For me, they have been determined and ruthless for some time, but what they lacked was the beautiful flowing football enjoyed by fans of Arsenal and Manchester United. They won, but were not attractive. You can't say that this year. They've been entertaining to watch and devastatingly effective.

The problem was, it looked like they could create an unassailable lead within the first ten games and that would mean a boring season. Thankfully two losses in a week have shown they can be overcome. They can slip up and there is room for challengers to push them all the way to the end.

Unfortunately for non-Chelsea fans, the main challengers failed to capitalise. Arsenal in particular squandered a great chance to narrow with a woeful display at Sunderland. Manchester United only crept a point nearer thanks to the usual resilient Bolton performance.

I would bet money on Chelsea winning back-to-back titles. They've found something under Ancelotti they had been missing and it's made them a more complete team - likely to not only win them more silverware but also more admirers. But I really, really hope it stays close through to the end. That's when we'll see the best not only of Chelsea, but of the greatest league in the world.

Certainly City's transfer activity this year smacks of an attempt to buy the title, but it won't happen yet. Despite spending over £100m, on top of huge spend in previous transfer windows, it's highly unlikely Man City will lift the Premiership title this year.

Why? Because as Chelsea found before them, it takes more than attracting the most expensive players by offering over-the-odds salaries and transfer fees. It needs the team to gel, to learn to play together and get used to a new approach.

Chelsea are hitting some incredible form - probably even better than under the success of Mourinho - because the core of the team have been together for several seasons.

That's why Manchester City won't win the Premiership this season. They have snapped up some exceptional players (and Adebayour), have a good manager and a big new stadium. But it's too early for them to achieve lasting success.

Well in all honesty that was the worst defeat i have witnessed for years. Manchester 'money bags' City 3 Liverpool 'the new hope' 0.

Simply Appalling. And if we're honest, at no stage in the game did it look as though the result would be any different.

How you may ask- after the disaster that was the 2009-2010 season – was that our worst defeat? Simply because of the level of tactical naivety on show, Something we have not seen in many a year.

Which leads onto my main point about this artice: is this Manchester City's chance to finally fulfill the potential they've been given since the arabs took over? With Mark Hughes at the helm, the club have made expensive, but sensible buys. Well, most of them anyway; the signings of Nigel De Jong and Wayne Bridge still baffle me. And although Hughes will have trouble accomodating all his new players, City potentially have the best strikeforce in the country. This enbarrassment of riches includes Robinho, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Bellamy and possibly Adebayor. Naturally there may be more to come (John Terry rumours have been circulating of late) but they already have an impressive looking team:

Given
Richards, Onouha, Dunne, Bridge
Wright Phillips, Barry, Ireland, Petrov
Tevez, Santa Cruz

I have no idea what players and what formation Hughes will field next season but I think that XI has enough quality to challenge for a top 4 place.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Manchester, are United on the decline? With the player wanting to go and a ridiculously big offer on the table, Fergie had little choice but to sell Ronaldo, but how can they replace him? In an attempt to do that, he's brought in Antonio Valencia from Wigan and Gabriel Obertan from Bordeaux. I know little about the latter but somehow I doubt he's at the Portugese winker's level. As for Valencia, well yes he's good, probably too good for Wigan, but is he worth £17million and a place at 'the world's top club?' I doubt it. Tevez has also left the club and joined bitter rivals City. His replacement? Michael Owen. For all his quality in front of goal, you can't help but feel its a gamble considering his age and injury record. Is it just me or have United taken a step backwards? What if Rooney and Owen both get injured (it's certainly possible)? Reserve-atov and Macheda up front is it? Oh no, please don't.

In my expert opinion, I think the race for 4th will be hotter than ever. Naturally I predict Arsenal will be well clear of that, Chelsea too under the guidance of Ancelotti. But I think Liverpool's squad is too weak (if Gerrard and Torres are out they are screwed), and as previously stated, United's has taken a beating, too. The likes of Man City, Everton and dare I say it, Tottenham will all be in the running. But one thing is certain: it's gonna be another brilliant season in the Premier League!

5,000 Brazilians play football for money in countries other than Brazil - it's a long-standing and self-fulfilling joke that any respectable team is not really respectable until they sign a Brazilian, irrespective of that player's actual quality. It's the history, the flare for the game, the trickery on the ball that create this impression. But being Brazilian doesn't necessarily ensure success in the British leagues. Several "flops" have featured only briefly in the Premier league - Julio Baptista being one. He once famously complained about the cold nights in Bolton where brutish defenders didn't allow him to play his "beautiful" game. Either that, or he was just missing traditional Brazilian beans.

The Sun recently published a list of the top ten Brazilians who've played in the Premiership. I found this out thanks to a Brazilian website that had picked up on it. Unsuprisingly, Juninho topped the list followed by Gilberto Silva. Robinho didn't make the grade as he's only just arrived. At number 10 featured a certain Geovanni.

This journeyman of Brazilian football has always flirted with greatness but never quite produced for club or country. But now, in the unlikely gold and black stripes of Hull City, he has already secured cult status - the scorer of Hull's first Premiership goal and, thanks to two goal-of-the- season contenders, the main reason Hull were able to raid an unlikely 6 points on their travels to north London. Surely, he's set to advance up the list beyond Alonso Alves at no.7? One things for sure - he's accomplished something already that Robinho can only dream of: scoring the winner in a Manchester derby.

The extra load of Brazilians in the Premiership has created unprecendeted interest back in Brazil as well. The EPL is avidly followed and news of Robinho's move to Manchester City sent shockwaves through the footballing public here. Scolari's presence is also of interest. I recently watched a lengthy TV interview conducted with him in Portuguese in which the Brazilian journalist firing the questions tried to coax Big Phil into commenting on whether he might return to managing the Brazilian national team. Scolari didn't rule it out, but his priority seems to be Chelsea for now.

It seems to me only a matter of time before EPL clubs start doing pre-season tours in the emerging markets of South America. Goodness knows, they would be well recieved if they did.

The influx of Brazilians to the Premier League is also having an unlikely effect on British employment in one or two sectors. Not only are black beans imports on the up but English teachers who speak Brazilian Portugese are suddenly in high demand. This applies to myself (although I live in Brazil) and some friends of mine based in the UK, two of whom are already involved at Chelsea teaching the irregular past tenses to players, their families and the coaching staff. From time to time I get an email with a vocab list to translate. As an Arsenal fan, it's very tempting to send back some potentially confusing and misguided details of football lexis in the hope that it might sabatoge the Blues...

So, raise your "caiprinhas" to the Brazilians in the Premiership, and long may we see them bring the beautiful game to England's shores.

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But while this obviously pitches them head-to-head with Manchester United and Chelsea who are undoubtedly the front-runners, it creates at least as big a problem for Liverpool and Arsenal.

These two teams don't have the resources of the top two, but are still consistently performing at a level above the rest of the league. So while they desire the Premiership title, they have been relatively comfortable in 3rd or 4th spot with guaranteed Champions League football each year - vitally important to both clubs.

With the ascendency of Manchester City, though, this comfortable balance is seriously upset. Winning the Premiership is incredibly tough and not guaranteed by spending more as Chelsea know all too well. Getting into the top four though is a very realistic amibition.

But if Manchester City get one of the Champions League places, who drops out? Suddenly Arsenal and Liverpool are competing for one Champions League spot, raising the stakes and putting both managers at more risk.

It will be interesting to see how Arsenal and Liverpool react to this threat, whether their own spending - especially Arsenal's - increases to further strengthen their squads.

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First the club is sold by the asset-frozen Thaksin to the even richer Abu Dhabi United Group. Then an audacious last-minute swoop to steal Robinho from under Chelsea's noses and now reports that the new owner would pay £135m to take Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.

Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim's next act may be to apply medical care to shell-shocked blue fans who were probably looking forward to another upper-mid table position. Now Mark Hughes hears the management want to be in the Champions League next season - meaning they have to displace one of the big four.

There are some fascinating aspects to this.

First, I'm enjoying Chelsea being outspent. How long will it be before Scolari is complaining about Manchester City distorting the transfer market with their big spending (memories of Ferguson when Chelsea started).

Robinho is a great signing but no one player makes a team. It's amazing he made a last minute change to City without more top-level support being brought in. Wright-Phillips was a good signing but I'm sure there will be many more to come.

Given that, is it realistic to challenge for a top four spot this year to reach the Champions League? Can Wright-Phillips and Robinho lift them from 9th last year (21 points behind 4th place) to above Liverpool or Arsenal? I doubt it, and that could cast Mark Hughes' long-term future in doubt if the new onwers aren't patient.

With Ronaldo, would Manchester United sell him to the blue half of the city? I think they'd rather keep him out of the Premiership. Same goes for the Torres and Fabregas. City would have to offer very silly money to land those players. Nice show-boating though and shows the new owners are happy to wind up ferguson from the start.

Finally, is this good news for Manchester City fans? They'll certainly see better football and more success over time. With the owners talking about bringing 18 new players in they may not recognise the team though. On balance, I'm sure they'll relish being recognised as the biggest club in the world. However, it takes more than money to get and stay the best, let's hope for their sake the owners understand that.

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Last year I seem to recall, Spurs were going to finish above Arsenal!

So, who do you think will finish top this season?

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So here are the results :

No more than £600 - 13%
£600 to £1000 - 32%
£1000 to £1250 - 13%
£1250 to £1500 - 8%
£1500 to £2000 - 5%
I'd pay anything to watch my team 29%

So whilst I'm not surprised that 32% wouldn't pay more than £1000, I'm surprised that 29% of you said you'd pay anything to watch your team.

So, while many ticket holders are thinking of giving up their season ticket, because for them it's becoming far too expensive, there will always be a large number of fans that are willing to pay, what ever the club demands!

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We're always on the look out for new writers. So if you fancy writing about your team, please get in touch.

But when I read that Manchester City have let Sven-Goran Eriksson go and are in talks with Mark Hughes, I can't help but feel the club are going backwards.

Eriksson had a mixed first season at City. A fantastic start - third position still in November - was followed by a lacklustre second half of the season, leaving them in ninth position and only qualifying for Europe via the fair play award. But teams need time to settle and Eriksson had the players' and fans' support.

He is also a big name with broad international experience. Mark Hughes' managerial experience with Wales and Blackburn has been successful but he's yet to show he can succeed on the big stage.

This may be his opportunity, with Thaksin's millions to spend once Thailand's legal system unfreezes them. But Manchester City fans must be nervous having lost a known big team manager for a potential one.

Plus, didn't Hughes play for another Manchester team?

Given the cost and how difficult it can be to get tickets to see a match, I think if you're luck enough to get to a game, then you should stay and see your team through the bitter end.

Anyway, if your guilty of not staying, what's your reason?

I particularly enjoyed watching the guys football skills on the bridge and look out for the dangerous kick - ball off top of the head!

Watch the video and you'll see what I mean!


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I remember Taylor's first appearance in black and white; playing as a makeshift right back at the Reebok Stadium. It didn't take long that day to get over the initial apprehension about a player so young and unproven starting for us, as he showed what he was capable of even