ALEX FERGUSON treats football management as if it were a game of chess and with only a few days until the new season begins, he has already shown he is several moves ahead of the rest.

EMBATTLED Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to be a big hit after the Gunners signed the winger for £15 million (€17 million).

ROBERTO MANCINI has admitted Manchester United still have the strongest squad in the Premier League despite the millions spent at Manchester City and has denied rumours he is ready to reach for the cheque book yet again on Wesley Sneijder.

IT WON’T be a “normal” Community Shield.

MANCHESTER CITY manager Roberto Mancini has downplayed suggestions Carlos Tevez could move to Inter Milan in a swap deal involving full-back Maicon.

ARSENE WENGER says he is “more determined” than ever to end Arsenal silverware drought this season.

BRYAN SHEEHAN had seen Darran O’Sullivan try it before.

THERE was no doubt about who was the star of the warm-up show at the Aviva Stadium yesterday, as Manchester City unveiled their new €40 million man, Sergio Aguero.

ARGENTINA striker Sergio Aguero already considers himself a Manchester City player and despite the deal not yet being completed he was welcomed as such by delighted fans outside the Etihad Stadium last night.

DIMITAR BERBATOV insists fans confuse his laidback approach to football with a misguided belief that he does not care.

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger yesterday refused to give any clear indication over the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri but stated that no player is irreplaceable.

ALEX FERGUSON has declared last week’s Community Shield as the start of a phoney war for Premier League supremacy and warned his young troops the “real stuff” begins at The Hawthorns tomorrow.

BROWN Panther bids to confirm himself a realistic Ladbrokes St Leger prospect in the CGA Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury today.

IT was a difficult week for the cities that host England’s leading football clubs. And just as the problems highlighted will demand a lot of soul-searching and cash to address, the same can be said for the difficulties that dogged all of Manchester United’s closest challengers in the Premier League last season.

THERE are plenty of new young faces in the Premier League this season but when it comes to lifting the title next May there is no point wrapping it up in mystery.

JOHN TERRY sat within inches of the Premier League trophy yesterday and admitted he had still not got over Chelsea surrendering it to Manchester United last season.

IN A parliamentary address yesterday on the riots in England this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron made a statement that caught a lot of people’s attention on Twitter: “When people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.”

DIE-hard football fans will spend around €5,500 attending all 19 home games of their favourite English Premier League team this season.

IT’S hard to get excited about the increasingly odious English Premier League soccer competition that begins this weekend, rioting and police response permitting.

THEY’VE entertained, baffled, irritated and thrilled us. At times they’ve over-hyped things to crazy levels but nobody can deny Sky have been a huge part of the Premier League era.