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The unveiling of Rangers’ new sponsor is badly-timed, seeing as they will not be requiring the services of an official airline for at least another year…

Celtic better watch out tomorrow night

Yesterday, The Spoiler boldly claimed that Darren Bent wouldn’t reach a goal tally in the double digits next season, as we presumed Juande Ramos would find someone to push him out of the regular team. The former Charlton top scorer, however, has managed to net seven goals in friendlies against Norwich (see above) and Leyton Orient this week, and it’s looking likely that he will be getting more of a run out when the season proper begins.

Have we and the mainstream media been too hasty in labelling him a flop? Will Bent silence his critics and stick away 20+ goals in Robbie Keane’s absence in the new term? Or will he still prove expensive and not particularly good in 2008/09?

Let us know what you think with a comment below…

Big Phil’s old men have caught up with Fergie’s nippers

A few weeks ago, Manchester Utd were streets ahead in the betting battle for Premier League 2008/09 title. However, the arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Deco (plus the speculation surrounding Kaka and Robinho) has brought Chelsea level, with Betfair putting both clubs at 15/8.

Arsenal meanwhile, are straggling out at 5/1, while Liverpool can barely make out Carlos Tevez’s handsome mug from their position at 7/1.

Betting on the Premier League title race? Click here and receive a free £25 bet with Betfair

The Spoiler considers the decline in big money transfer activity

The credit crunch is affecting everyone in the UK at the moment: bread now costs more than a Ford Fiesta did ten years ago, house prices in the north have fallen below £25 for a two bed semi, and pretty soon, Cristiano Ronaldo will start having to using cheaper prostitutes just to get by.

The transfer rumours thrown around each day seem to assume that the Premier League’s elite are not affected by the global financial problems, but the cost of obtaining loans has clearly stalled the summer transfer market.

Consider the list below, which details each Premier League club’s biggest summer signing last year and the date on which they occurred:

Eduardo to Arsenal - July 3
Reo Coker to Villa - July 5
Muamba to Birmingham - May 11
Santa Cruz to Blackburn - July 28
Samuel to Bolton - July 1
Malouda to Chelsea - July 9
Earnshaw to Derby - June 29
Yakubu to Everton - August 29
Kamara to Fulham - July 9
Torres to Liverpool - July 3
Elano to Man City - August 2

West Ham boss could be granted the first P45 of the season

Every season, punters stake a significant amount on the first managerial sacking, but in the opast few years, the bookies have been clearing up. Who could have seen bumbling clowns Sammy Lee and Chris Hutchings outlasting two-time Premier League winner Jose Mourinho? And the year before did anyone really see Charlton, having stood by Alan Curbishley for 15 years, sacking Iain Dowie just three months into the season? Curbishley is the unlucky favourite this year (5/1, bet here), but in preparation for a big shock, chickendinner have surveyed all of the sack race contenders…

Alan Curbishley

» West Ham’s last two managers - Glenn Roeder and Alan Pardew - were both sacked in the first half of the season.

» Glenn Roeder was sacked after just two games in his third season in charge in 2003. This will be Curbishley’s third season at West Ham.

» However, West Ham have only had eleven full-time managers in their 113-year history - no other Premier League club has had fewer.

» Three managers have left West Ham while they were a Premier League club - Billy Bonds, Harry Redknapp and Alan Pardew - but of those only Pardew was removed in the middle of a season.

Kevin Keegan

» All seven full-time Newcastle Premier League managers have left in the middle of the season.

» Newcastle have ridiculously sacked three managers in August over the last past ten years - Dalglish, Gullit and Robson - winning the sack race on each occasion.

» Keegan has a track record for resigning mid-campaign. He left the England job in the middle of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup and he left both Newcastle and Man City mid-season.

» But Keegan has never spent less than a year at a club, which would mean staying on until January 16. By that point last season, eight managers had left their club.

Gary Megson

» Megson is the only of the five

North Londoners can be confident of fifth place glory

What’s the best thing to do if you’re stuck inside a league where only four teams stand a chance of winning? Start your own league, of course. Everton won the ‘best of the rest’ league last season, but it’s two-time champions Tottenham who are the bookies overwhelming favourites this time. of course, with only six worthy contenders, even this mini-league is becoming a bit predictable, so stay tuned for a ‘best of the rest of the rest’ league next season.

Here’s chickendinner’s take on the whole shebang, starting with the boys who love nothing more than to play around in the surf:

Tottenham

Reason for: Tottenham have been ‘best of the rest’ in two of the last three seasons.

Reason against: Since the Premier League became a 20-team league, Tottenham have never gained more than five places over the course of a season - last year they came 11th.

Aston Villa

Reason for: Losing Gareth Barry may not be the end of the world. In 2004-05, Everton lost Wayne Rooney but shrugged it off and finished fourth.

Reason against: Aston Villa are always in the mix but haven’t finished in the top five since 1996-97. In the eleven seasons since they have finished between sixth and eighth seven times but despite a great start in 1998-99, Villa have never managed to get the job done.

Everton

Reason for: Everton were the last club to finish above one of

It’s time to start looking forward to football again

On what the BBC are dubbing ‘one of the the most eagerly awaited days on the domestic calendar’, the FA have announced the next season’s fixtures. Aside from King Kev’s visit to Old Trafford, there’s not much happening on the opening weekend:

Opening weekend fixtures - Saturday, 16 August

Arsenal/ West Brom
Aston Villa/ Man City
Bolton/ Stoke
Chelsea/ Portsmouth
Everton/ Blackburn
Hull/ Fulham
Man Utd/ Newcastle
Middlesbrough/ Tottenham
Sunderland/ Liverpool
West Ham/ Wigan

Also, there are no games scheduled between 28th December and 10th January - surely they haven’t done away with the New Year fixtures?

See the full 2008/09 fixture list here.