Balotelli’s latest moment of madness (the ref definitely didn’t see it!)

Another weekend of big matches in the English football calendar and another Monday morning where the football doesn’t make the headlines.  Or so it would seem if you picked up a paper or flicked open an English based website to see the face of Manchester City’s bad boy striker, Mario Balotelli staring back at you thanks to his latest run-in with indiscipline. But in this case the incident did have a big impact on the game itself, and it was certainly  a relief for it to be something other than the brandishing of fake cards by players, or indeed managers. Balotelli’s stamp on the face of Spurs midfielder Scott Parker — “Scott has a lovely cut on his head,” said his manager, Harry Redknapp — should have seen the City player sent off. As it turned out the referee missed it, Balotelli stayed on, won a penalty and stepped up to convert it and win the game for City. Cue the outrage from Redknapp.

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And with that the transfer window slammed shut with a loud thump, thus ending another session of overspending and out of control rumours. For a few weeks now we can go back to the tranquil normality of talking about the actual football matches until the media get antsy and begin to talk about what teams might be eyeing up come January when the window will once again open for a 31 day period. But before we do, how about one last look back on a day that was, as ever, one of unmitigated mayhem.

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One of these should be enough to get you Craig Bellamy from Manchester City

Expect tomorrow to be busy. Very busy. If you’re a football fan and you have to work then get the ear phones in and try to keep up. In what is an advert for how commercial and out of control with money the game has gone, the transfer deadline day fails to bring out the best in the media and the clubs desperate for last minute purchases. Sky Sports will have a reporter posted at the gates of every top flight club across England, the live blogs will be in full flow and the rumours will go from the unrealistic (Ryan Babel going from ground-to-ground in a helicopter a few years ago) to the stupid and amusing (People calling into football talk shows claiming to have a friend whose a taxi driver who has just droped [insert players name here] at [insert team's name here] training ground.

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Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United team take on a struggling Arsenal this weekend in a game that once upon a time would have been seen as a potential title decider so early in the season. Back in the days when the pair of them dominated the top of the English table and ran away with the championships. Now that other teams have risen to power Fergie doesn’t hate as Arsenal as much anymore as he pines for those good old days when Wenger was his enemy and no fan would dare be critical of either.

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Blackburn Rovers owners Venky’s fell well short of the promises to bring in illustrious names such as David Beckham and Ronaldinho when they first took over, but finally look set to finally deliver on a big name of yesteryear by signing former Spanish great, Raúl, 97, from German side Schalke. This time a bid has actually gone in and the German outfit are considering it as Blackburn look for an Indian summer (no pun intended) from Raúl to help stave off inevitable relegation.

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The Los Angeles Galaxy are tonight expected to pay a £3m fee that will release centre forward Robbie Keane from the Tottenham Hotspur bench. A dent in the shape of the Republic of Ireland international’s arse is expected to be left behind once he makes the switch that the Galaxy have given until midnight tonight to take place. Keane, a boyhood fan of Celtic, Liverpool, Leeds United and Spurs will then formally announce, “It’s no secret over the years I’ve been a Galaxy fan,” while holding a Galaxy scarf above his head ensuring that his lifelong ambition of joining the team, has come true. LA will hope that in pairing Keane with David Beckham, for a combined player age of 105, that the Irishman can finish off those pin-point passes by Becks.

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The new Premier League season is just a few days away so it’s high time I threw together at team-by-team preview of sorts for you to browse through while you’re waiting for 3 p.m. on Saturday. I’ve also included my best stab at how the table will shape up this season though don’t play the fool by printing it out and running down to your local bookmakers! I’ve been wrong in virtually every positional pick every year I’ve made these predictions. Given that I’ve taken Manchester Utd to win the title, I wouldn’t be too upset about being wrong again. So, without further ado, here’s a short, sharp insight into each of the twenty teams that will make up the 2011/12 Premier League season, in alphabetical order…

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Enrique attempts to fill the Riise void

Newcastle United defender Jose Enrique is to become the latest in a line of full-backs trying to fill the unforgiving void left by John Arne Risse when he left the side back in 2008. Names such as Fabio Aurelio, Emiliano Insua and Paul Konchesky have all tried and failed to impress, and so after agreeing a £6m fee with Newcastle, Liverpool will now let Enrique audition.

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