Apologies! And so it begins....Fabregas and European draws

Hello people,

First off - although nobody really minds enough for it to be necessary - apologies for neglecting the blog for the last week. I'm apologising really cos if your gonna come on the internet/facebook and make a load of noise about writing some stuff you should stick to it. I spent the last week doing some job stuff pretty full time and now that is kind of sorted I'm back to doing this.

So whats going on....

Well first up - league football is actually back tonight - Norwich vs Watford in the Championship, and with complete sincerity I'm excited. I just want to watch a good live game of footy after a pretty dyer world cup and tepid pre-season offerings. I want to see challenges. So tonight its typical mates over stuff in my living room tonight. No tins provided though, I'm not that nice.

The Championship is always an incredibly open league, one which is difficult to predict one I'm not going to attempt predictions myself - I don't really know enough but am making it my mission to learn a little more this year.

I will offer my immediate reactions to the main contenders, the people the pros are backing to do well:

Middlesborough: Yeah - I can see why they are a popular choice. Kris Boyd was a bit of a coup, although nobody is ever going to convince me that scoring shit loads of goals in Scotland is that impressive. The likes of McCoist, Fortune and Samaras have all been genuinely frightening propositions for defences north of the border...But I digress... Gordon Strachan may be a ginger, warted, whiskey loving hobbit - but he's a decent manager. He has also bought in Scott Macdonald, Barry Robson, Stephen Mcmanus, Chris Killen, Willo Flood, Andy Halliday and Lee Miller from the SPL since moving to Boro last year and he certainly proved he could build a team with Championship credentials in Scotland. But THE Championship is a very tough league to win. Not a two horse race every season.

Reading: Finished last season very strongly and are a club who seemed to drop out of the Premier League with a bit of a whimper, could be back on the way up.

Cardiff City: Well, they're always in and around aren't they. Looks like they've held on to Michael Chopra, a fantastic goalscorer who plays well with Jay Bothroyd. They've lost Joe Ledley to Celtic but have plenty of quality. Poor defence will need sorting but Dave Jones has given a troubled club stability. I hope they're promoted.

Notts Forrest, Bristol City (Steve Coppel, David James et al) and relegated duo Hull and Burnley are also being tipped to perform well and I have no grounds to believe otherwise. Although I really hope that Hull and Burnley flop severely. Well, maybe just Hull but I fucking hate Brian Laws' shit face too. Outsiders such as QPR, Doncaster and Derby County are also being mentioned. Not much sign of the returning Leeds United (who I hope can make it back to the prem, people seem to hate but I have a soft spot). Or Roy Keane's Ipswich. I do rate Keane as a manager, I think he should have held on at Sunderland a little longer but ones got to question if he's got the temperament or humility to ever stay in a job long enough to really become a top manager. This season may tell us.

I'm going to be honest and say I know fuck all about leagues 1 and 2 and I'm not going to be silly enough to pretend I do - but will try and engage a little more as the season progresses.

We cant discuss the Championship without thinking about poor old Pompey. Glad they secured their future yesterday, nobody likes to see a club go bankrupt cos it is shit for their fans so I was pleased they managed to haul themselves out of the mire. They are going to be fascinating to watch this season. Firstly, they are signing Kanu on again. Magic. Other than that - they could be a very big success story or a continuation of last year's disastrous financial situation. What they really need is to sort themselves out and just have a slow mid-table season. Good luck to them

Moving on and Cesc Fabregas says he is staying at Arsenal. Fucking yippee from my point of view! I, and many Arsenal fans, will accept his apology and completely understand why he was attracted by the prospect of Barcelona - no matter how much I was fucked off with their disrespectful behaviour all summer. We also respect that he was loyal enough to discuss everything privately with Arsene Wenger rather than hand in the public transfer request that would have made the move almost impossible for Arsenal to stop. There is a danger that every time he has a set back at Arsenal this season he may start dreaming of Barca - but I'm not worried.

He is a champion, an amazing player and somebody who always wants to win. I hope Arsenal can just put it all behind them and get ready for the new season. Shitting myself still about no new goalie. Joe Hart deadline day loan? Would fucking love that.

The draws for the latest qualifying rounds in the Champions League and Europa League were made today. Liverpool have drawn Trabzonspor - Turkey is rarely an easy destination but the Pool should be fine. Aston Villa have got a tough task - Rapid Vienna. With growing uncertainty about James Milner's situation and a lack of investment in the squad so far Villa aren't looking too solid at the moment. Rapid knocked them out at the same stage last year and Villa should be out for revenge. Celtic have drawn FC Utrecht and if I were Neil Lennon I would be shitting myself about being knocked out. Celtic fans are not particularly forgivning - even if you are a legend. I know nothing about Utrecht, but this Celtic side just seem completely weak and there are no easy games at this stage of European competition.

That is, of course, unless you're Spurs or Man City.

City are playing Timisoara...no knowledge there but they play in Romania, a once strong national side which has dissapeared in recent times. Tottenham have drawn Swiss runners-up Young Boys in their Champions League qualifier. Amazing name. Spurs will be chuffed with the draw and twitchy-ballbag-face should be on the touchlines of some of Europe's greatest arenas come the return of the Champions League proper.

So there we are - the blog is back on and I shall endeavour to keep it on track now that my own situation is a little more stable. Watch out for potential audio that could be available next week. May attempt a Premier League season preview available to download. Work in progress.

More tomorrow - including a fucking match report of sorts. Brill. Cheers