The Knee-jerk Reactions To This Season's Premier League Season

Manchester City suffer same old problems

Undoubtedly, last year Manchester City did not take enough points when they were backed into a corner, a flaw that reared its head again on Sunday as they were downed by a buoyant Cardiff side.

The personnel and manager may have changed but the indication on Sunday is that City might still have a slightly softer centre than some of their rivals. Further to that, for all the summer recruits they still look desperately short for defensive back up – so much so that Javi Garcia was forced to stand in at centre-half.

Of course, this was never going to be an easy contest with Cardiff inspired by their first home outing in the Premier League, a game which in reality presented little pressure given their tag of severe underdogs. That said, there will be many City fans concerned that this early set back means they are already off the title winning pace.

Maybe Hull are not such a write off

Tipped by many for an instant Championship return, Hull got the first win monkey off their back at only the second attempt. In doing things the hard way, having been reduced to ten men for a large proportion of the game, they outlined that there is plenty of character and fight within the squad.

Further to that, several of their new recruits made a significant impact, most notably Alan McGregor, Curtis Davies and Tom Huddlestone. All three enjoyed strong performances on Saturday, with Huddlestone in particularly looking a real class act.

These are the sort of games that Steve Bruce will know his team will need to take points from and the early indication is that the there is plenty more bite in the Tigers than people expected.

Time to panic at St James

Things are never dull at Newcastle and an uninspired start to the season, coupled with a disappointing transfer window, has seen discontent set in amongst the clubs supporters.

Monday’s dismal defeat at the Ethiad where the magpies seemingly rolled over and allowed City to tickle their bellies was at least followed up by getting a point on the board against West Ham. Although in truth the Hammers had several golden chances to inflict a second defeat on Alan Pardew’s men.

With the influential Yohan Cabaye looking to be on his way out of the club, and nobody besides Loic Remy as yet brought in, things are once again looking grim in Geordie land.

Should the transfer window be moved?

When things don’t swing your way in August, the transfer window is apparently the most likely cause for that - with several managers citing their frustration at the system following this weekend’s round of games.

The belief being that it is unfair to be playing competitive football with speculation about player’s futures flying around. Of course the fact that everyone is fighting the same battle is seemingly ignored.

The suggestion is that things should be concluded before the season starts. This would undoubtedly make things easier for managers but where would the fun be in that? Further to that, they would only then need to think of a new excuse to explain a stuttering start.