This could be a defining moment in the Premier League this weekend. Arsenal host Aston Villa and where the kids were in fine form in the week and last week’s epically entertaining game against Manchester United showed the best of them. But Villa are capable and capable of scoring goals, so they could get a surprise. Equally Bolton won at Hull last week - mainly thanks to their goalkeeper admittedly -  but and with  Jussi Jaaskelainen still there Liverpool have to find a way past. Manchester United’s vaunted front men were firing blanks mostly against QPR and Stoke may be better opposition which sort of says it is another stutter or a slaughter. The only one of the top four sides that look like a banker are Chelsea at West Brom. Have a triple on Liverpool and Arsenal to lose and United to draw and £1 pays £336. Bet the other way on the top four all to win and £1 pays £3.50. Get a free £10 bet here

One might have expected the goals to rain in against Celtic and Fenerbahce in the Champions League midweek, but both Arsenal and Manchester United seeemed politically content with draws. The real business is at noon on Satuirday. Arsene Wenger will have been encouraged that his defence did not ship anymore goals but Mikel Silvestre’s apparently broken nose marks another injury problem for the French manager at the back. United’s £120million of forward fire power could not dislodge the Scots either -  until a swirling 40 yarder from Cristiano Ronaldo was pushed out into the path of an onrushing Ryan Giggs to nod in. Not really the goal of champions.

The betting is interesting. It is heavily skewed in the sense that three goals in the game either way starts at 21/1. A 0-0 is almost dicounted at 9/1. But a 3-3 is 39/1. 4-2 is 59/1 and 79/1 in favour of United. Interesting odds. Get a free £10 bet here and all the odds.

The name is Wenger…Arsene Wenger. Sorry I missed that…?

The two old foes Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson came together in September for a charity function to raise funds for the League Managers Association Benevolent Trust. Hostilities will doubtless be resumed on Saturday at noon when Arsenal’s porous defence - eight goals conceded in three games meets Manchester United’s elegant gunslinging quartet of Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov. United though shipped three goals themselves to Hull last week.  Arsenal have scored 15 in five games before tonight’s Champions League game and have a day’s advantage in terms of rest. Ten of their last 11 goals have come from different players.

The betting makes interesting reading for what could be a high scoring game. 4-4 is 129/1 which is not beyond the bounds of possibilities. In fact anything involving one side to score three goals is more than 21/1 looks tempting.

All the Arsenal v Manchester United odds are here

The newly promoted teams have shown well in the opening games of the season. But it has been more defence than attack and none of the trio look to be packing too much in the goals department.

Hull even though they are third and perhaps halfway to safety only have a goal difference of plus one. West Brom who are ninth have a difference of zero.

Stoke look to be in trouble. Their points have come from a surpising and untypical 3-2 win against Aston Villa and holding on for a point at Anfield. The rest they have lost and in the Carling  Cup they only beat Reading on penalties. Their goal difference is already minus six. Next up is Tottenham at home which by rights they should not win. Spurs are 6/5 to win.

West Ham will be nervous about a trip to Hull after last week’s defeat to Blackburn and Hull’s away form in the capital beating Spurs and Arsenal. A tough, possibly decisive call that one. The book says 6/5 Hull but Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke may be making their mark and do not have all their players away on international duty.

West Brom travel to Manchester United who, given that everyone returns from international duty un-injured, look to be purring again.  Or was last week’s victory more of an omen that Blackburn are on the slide?

Get all the Premier League betting here

Seven games in does not make a season, but from a betting point of view there is starting to be some form. Manchester United and Fulham have only played six games, so there is even less evidence in their cases, although both look likely to come good in October.

The big betting money has been following the bigger scores. Liverpool’s last gasp win at Manchester City 3-2 was 24/1. Unfancied Bolton’s 3-1 win at West Ham was 49/1. The newly promotoed clubs have done well but have not been scoring and only Stoke’s 0-0 at Liverpool stands out as a mark of their resilience.

Most teams have enough about them to suggest that the bigger teams may not have it all their own way, which points to goals scored. Or at least Chelsea and Manchester United may not have it all their own way. For the rest it looks like a dog fight. Joe Kinnear could in fact be Newcastle need. A bit of the crazy gang approach from the old Wimbledon days and a few **** was enough to stifle Everton. Tottenham must find some form. Hull must be halfway to survival so that suggests another team to go down, of which, as it painful as it may be to show no faith in a young English manager, Blackburn under Paul Ince look possible candidates. They are away to Bolton next time around which will be a good test of their Premier League viability.

Fulham entertain Sunderland which will also be a six pointer one way or the other. Fulham have been playing the football and losing. Sunderland have been stealing results. Stytle meets substance.

For all hype and punditry, the early proof of the Premier League 2008/9 is that money does not buy success. It can. But it doesn’t look like it for the clubs that spend big. Or for clubs that want or need instant success, one player or more is not necessarily the panacea.  Spurs and Nerwcastle fans must be wondering where it all went so badly wrong.

Tottenham are 749/1 to win the title which is rather more than a long shot and Juande Ramos has dismantled Martin Jol’s side and fielding a bunch of strangers. To add insult Jol has taken Hamburg to the top of the Bundesliga in less time than Ramos has taken to undo his good work. Rumours now link ex Chelsea boss Avram Grant to White Hart Lane? The board’s endorsement of the manager has been made public. 

Mike Ashley has money but seemingly refused  Kevin Keegan’s demands to spend big. In fact he has not  spent very much at all and that could be even worse. A new owner, bringing Keegan back even with money for a relegation dog fight looks less likely at present than a steep fast descent through the Championship to League One, a la Leeds.  In that light Roy Kinnear may not be such a bad choice for the months ahead…

Robinho could not make the difference yet for Manchester City against Liverpool on Sunday, and it is pretty unclear if Rafa Benitez’s summer spending will take Liverpool above Chelsea or Manchester United. Even at Stamford Bridge on Sunday it was interesting how far the pundits got it wrong…Villa to win 2-0 was a 40/1 shot and much touted about on radio and TV, Chelsea were a predictable boring 5/1 for the same score. But  Villa in fact have spent heavily this summer and transparently it has not made enough of a difference. Chelsea on the other hand even with more than half a team out with injury, fielded what many pre-the game had down as a second string side but preceeded to produce another masterclass in modern football. The lesson there is to start with a good manager, or preferably a great one. Or even better with four in succession- Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, maybe Avram Grant if only because the obituary on his legacy was that he didn’t mess things up, and Felipe Scolari.

Sir Alex Ferguson has also demonstrated over the years the art of buying important players and taking time to integrate them. It might have been overlooked that he has in fact spent £60million on Dimitiar Berbatov and confirming the Carlos Tevez deal this summer. Cristiano Ronaldo was a steal at £13m. Wayne Rooney was £28million. No wonder the forwards looked in good form against Blackburn. His purchases though are additions to the squad to embellish the overall play. They are not wholesale overhauls. That United forward line has been groomed through since the decision to sell Ruud Van Nistelroy in 2006.

Great teams are built on time and foresight. Arsenal are still in contention through  an investment in youth; exravagent sums spent on teenagers whom they can develop and sell on. Arsene Wenger seems to believe the brio of youth is a necessary part of successful chemistry. The great Ajax side of 1994-96 was built on that premise too.

There are some interesting games this weekend. Manchester United kick off the action in Monaco for the European Super Cup against Uefa Cup winners Zenit St Petersburgh. There are usually goals in this fixture, but for United there is a question of who might score them with Saha gone to Everton, Ronaldo in recuperation and the much anticipated arrival of Dimitar Berbatov still an illusion. That just leaves £32million of Carlos Tevez to hound the Russian defence. Nani can play after a suspension which will add some electricity and Anderson is back from the Olympics with Brazil.

On the other hand it is 19 games into the Russian season But Zenit are off the pace in sixth and star player Andre Arshavin seems to have been sent to the soccer equivalent of Siberia for daring to do a Berbatov/Ronaldo/Lampard and let it be known he might want away.

Sir Alex Ferguson has said he will treat this game as a one-off whatever that might mean. Monaco will just be praying the United supporters don’t do what Glasgow Rangers fans did to Manchester when they lost the final to Zenit.

Get all the odds on European Super Cup Final here

Bet Newcastle

Kevin Keegan will have been well pleased with a point against a depleted Manchester United and be looking forward to the opening game on Tyneside after a disappointing warm up campaign. Bolton though enjoyed thraashing new boys Stoke and are battle hardened from last year’s relegation tussle. A tough call. Draw. Get all the betting here

Get all the odds here

It is always a greater risk betting on the first Saturday of the season. There is no guide to who gets out of the starting blocks quickly or whether this will be a high scoring season but there are a few interesting bets.

The games to avoid are probably Hull against Fulham which has draw written on it or maybe Fulham will have the firepower. People have been writing them off as potential relegation candidates but I am a fan of Roy Hodgson. Onj the other hand I wouldn’t mind betting this could be Hull’s only win for a long time.  It is a hard call at West Ham where Wigan who finished strongly last year are not going to play the kind of football the east Londoners like. It is a tough call to see if either Spurs or Liverpool can win away in the north east at Middlesbrough and Sunderland respectively, Maybe, maybe not.

The first four games alphabetically look home wins:

Arsenal should beat newly promoted West Brom, perhaps not without a scare or two

Aston Villa should be too strong for Mark Hughes Manchester City who will have £18 million Brazilian striker Jo upfront, but £18million is not enough to buy a place in the Olympic team and with ructions backstage cannot be a help. Some smart money says Hughes will be a shoe in at the first Premiership side in enough trouble to sack their manager. That’s Newcastle then.

Bolton should take care of newly promoted Stoke who can start their freefall back to the Championship.

And Everton will not allow Paul Ince’s Blackburn much space.

£10 on those four pays £83.

Compare that to the obvious banker that Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all at home and all win - £10 would pay £19.

There is a free £10 bet for new members at BetClick - win and you keep the money, lose and, well, you don’t. They pay it.

Carlos Tevez holds the Community Shield up for fans. The best we can say is that at least Tevez deserved something on the day on which 0-0 hardly lit up expectations for the new season and a decision that went down to some poor penalties from Portsmouth. Manchester United looked good and well oiled but lacked the cutting edge that the injured Cristiano Ronaldo and the sickly Wayne Rooney offer. They may be fortunate that they have a slow start to the season with only two games in August and three in September thanks to internationals and the Super Cup against Uefa Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg in Monaco, another piece of debatable show boating to fund the coffers of soccer’s overbloated bureaucracy.

The great man is lounging on a sofa in the Savoy lounge. He is wearing a gold waistcoat and looks propsoperous in the way of a Cuban cigar magnate. There is a gold ring on his third finger. The watch is Cartier. The suit is Lanvin. The drink is Chateau Lafite 1989.

“Betting for me is different,” he explains. “I am a rich man. The rules for rich men’s betting are different to those of other people. A rich man bets a lot on small odds. A poor man has to bet a lot on longer odds.”

How often do you bet?

“Not a lot in reality. I talk about it a lot. But a rich man has to be right three times out of four. So I am careful in my choices. I don’t like to lose, you see.

“I like the mathematics. I like to prove a system to myself before I put any money down. It is just like business really. You are always trying to minimise the risk and massage the upside.”

When did you start gambling?

“When I started winning. I am like a Deep Stack poker player. I bide my time and wait for the right cards. Two aces suits me fine. I don’t like walking back to Houston”

What do you bet on?

“Soccer for choice. That is my discipline. I am intererested in tennis too, more and more.”

Horses?

“I cannot say I like the horses. Too much history there. Too much intangible. With football there is no corruption or very little and very occassional and even then not really likely to interfere with my approach. With horses I never feel you can get that sound baseline.”

Does your wife approve of your gambling?

“She has six children. I pay the bills. She goes shopping. Why should she complain? It does not get in our way as a family. She would rather I am online for a few minutes with my football betting than on some dating site.”

Would you bet if you did not have the money?

“No. I set a budget. I stick to it. But that was a while ago. I start over again each season and tally up”

How much have you really made out of gambling?

“That is not a fair question. I work on a 60:40 ratio. But I can afford to put £10k on Manchester United to win because that is still £4,000 profit which is cute for a little attention to detail. But if I could not afford to wager that much I would be looking for accumulators and my particular interest of the moment which is a double on two teams to get the same scoreline, say 2-0. That pays big time, if you can get it right.”

Your tip for the weekend?

“Don’t bet. It is all too volatile and too unpredictable. I am keeping my money for the opening of the Premier League. Even then I may wait a couple of weeks to see who is playing well. But I have a good feeling about Chelsea under Luis Felipe Scolari. Last year under Avram Grant they were a nightmare because although they were unbeaten at home and theoretically a banker, they actually drew too many games.”

Get all the new season soccer odds here plus a £10 free bet for new members at http://www.betclick.com/sport/home.aspx

Bet Manchester United

The goalless draw played out by way of a friendly by the teams of those wily old soccer assassins Alex Ferguson and Claudio Ranieri last night may give some pointers to events about to unfold. United have a problem scoring goals without Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. These two players above all represent Manchester United’s class, the more so on the pitch than off it where they seem to want to rival each other as spoilt brats of the Premier League. On Sunday, United go to Wembley to play the showpiece Community Shield against Portsmouth who have their own new strike force in Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch. They also meet Portsmouth as their second game of the season. Their first is Newcastle in what looks like a leisurely start to the campaign to retain the Premier League and another showpiece game in the European Super Cup against Uefa winners Zenit St Petersburg, probably now without a striking Arshavin. In September they have just three fixtures - Liverpool, Chelsea and Bolton. Ferguson will have needed to have greased the engine by then.

Liverpool are noteworthy slow out of the blocks. They travel to Sunderland for the first day of the season, entertain Middlesbrough who punch above their weight against the better teams, get distracted by the European Cup against Standard Liege and then visit Aston Villa who were scoring for fun at the end of last season. Rafa Benitez will need to find a rythmn quickly. The bad news is that in September they also face Everton.

Arsenal are looking the part again with just the question mark about who will actually tap the ball into the net. They are young, fast and play attractive football on the harder surfaces in the sunshine of early seasons. West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Newcastle are first up and don’t look likely to be given any change. They also have what should be an easy September before meeting Tottenham and Everton in October. The tough stuff starts in November with both Chelsea and Manchester United.

Luis Felipe Scolari seems to have the charisma to further bond and fuse the Chelsea fighting spirit with impressive wins on their travels. 5-0 against an unfit AC Milan is still 5-0. But they have some testing games against teams that would hope to break into the top four starting with Portsmouth, then Spurs, then Manchester City, then  United, then Villa. These are games that are going to matter and if the Blues can get the points in the bag, they are probably worth more than ther equivalent games for their rivals. It will also be a test of their mettle. If they are top of the league by the end of September, everyone else will fear the worst.

Worried man? Bet QPR?

Flavio Briatore, co chairman of Championship favourites QPR contemplates the betting

Bracewell’s betting laws - 3. betting on friendlies

The problem with betting on friendlies as this weekend’s action illustrated only too well is the vagaries are multiplied. An unfit Milan side were trounced by Chelsea 5-0. Arsene Wenger put out a youthful Arsenal against Juventus and kept his experienced players for Real Madrid. They played the usual Arsenal pretty football but could not score. The sight of the injured Eduardo in a suit rubbed salt in the wounds for Gooner’s admirers who wonder if he might have won them the Premier League last season. Four tap ins might have done.  I digress.

The laws of betting on friendly football matches are that the results are more volatile and not subject even to the usual constant that a manager will play his best team. Winnings can therefore be exponential because the element of surprise is magnified. It is not a safe bet. Except it is a safe bet where the bigger teams are playing and where we can see that they are close to the level of fitness that Premier League action requires.

A bet on Manchester United to win at Peterborough, Liverpool to win at Oslo, Arsenal to win at Huddersfield and Barcelona to beat Red Bull New York is tight odds but £10 pays £31.70, which at this time of the season looks like robbing the bank.

Bet Manchester United

Ole Gunner Solskar holds the another European Cup before his testimonial

There will be fond memories of Ole Gunner Solskar around the Premier League grounds but his type of player is increasingly out of fashion. The title race for 2008/9 will be decided in midfield. As ever Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson was ahead of the game when he signed first Michael Carrick from Spurs and then Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich to bring steel and guile into his midfield. It was a move that others have followed. Felipe Scolari brought in Deco to bring some zip and flair to Chelsea and has refused to let Frank Lampard go. Arsene Wenger’s only major purchase so far was to bring in Sami Nasri to compliment Cesc Fabregas in midfield. It seems after a summer of yes and no, that Rafa Benitez will get Gareth Barry to bring muscle to the Anfield army. Juande Ramos has offloaded centreforwards in favour of a dynamic midfield of Luka Modric and David Bentley. In fact all the big money has been on midfielders which means it is going to be tight in the centre circle in upcoming matches…or perhaps it is a defensive mindset that says that only teams with quality in midfield will have the vision to outwit strong defences, so it is safer to buy proven middle men than to play against them?

Bet Newcastle relegation

Damien Duff asks for instructions in Mallorca

The omens do not look good, two defeats in friendlies in Mallorca, Manchester United coming up on the opening day of the season, Keven Keegan’s black and white revolution is looking shaky and the hope of reinforcements coming in over the summer has not so far yielded any confidence-boosting arrivals. It could be a grim fight on the North East and a good bet for the new whipping boys in a relegation dogfight. They are 14/1 to be relegated and 149/1 against winning the leaguwe which sums up Special K’s problems neatly.

Get betting here

Bracewell’s soccer betting laws 2 - how much to bet?

Money is relative. If you have a £1,000,000 going spare then putting it on Manchester United to beat Portsmouth in the Community Shield at the resplendent new Wembley might seem like a surefire bet. You could trouser £600,000 which is good money in most people’s language. But if you pop £1 on it £1.60 seems a bit like slim pickings.

How much to bet is firstly about how much can you afford to play with? This is a decision best taken for the long term. Set a budget and stick to it. Apart from anything else it allows us to construct realistic strategies and analyse them. If you keep popping bets on here and there in the heat of the moment, then you may never know whether it was luck, judgement or chance. With a budget we can mix up hisk high odds bets against bankers at low risk and manage our portfolio just like they are stocks and shares.

Poker players talk about have a stash which they can build up over a period of months for big games. That makes sense, except in soccer betting there is no need to keep doubling up the ante. You are probably not going to win millions unless you bet millions. Be realistic.

Let us set a budget of £10 a week, £100 if you could afford it and if you are flush then £1000. So we are all talking the same percentages. Let us work to turn that £10/£100/£1000 firstly into £25/£250/£2500. It may sound modestly ambitious, but even if we hit the big odds pay days, let’s treat them like they are as sunny days in February

A tip for the weekend - a treble on Arsenal, Milan and Real Madrid all to win is 7.20, so £10 = £72.

Open an account at BetClick and as a new member your first £10 bet is free - if it does not come off, you don’t lose anything. Give it a try, you could be holding folding Sunday night

Laws of soccer betting

1. How to win money on any soccer league

The first law of soccer betting is to know your league. Or more to the point know how many goals are usually scored. This is an important analysis not only because it shows the trend of who might beat whom, but more importantly opens the door o nthe far more mathematically meaningful wagers of getting the correct scores.

Take last season’s Premier League for example:

The top six clubs down to Aston Villa all had goal differences of 20 plus. United were run away winners with plus 58, but Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea were within parity of just four goals. Useful information that.

The botom nine had negative goal differrences. Bottom club Derby was a massive minus 69, so they shipped more negative eresults than Manchester united scored at the top. There were some curiosities in here mostly with Newcastle finishing 11th but with minus 20 (thanks KK) and Birmingham, whose surprise demotion is reflected in a goal difference of minus 16, which if it had only been about goal difference should have had them finish 13th.

Between the top and the bottom five teams finished with more or less equal goalf differences.

From which we can learn one valuable lesson. The top six teams scored their goals against the bottom sides. The teams in the middle scrapped it out and ended with roughly par goals. Statistically therefore the high scoring games were top v bottom and the draws were eeked out in mid table.

Chelsea lost the title by drawing seven games at home. Liverpool lost out by not winning away.

Bet on the first Saturday of the new season soccer here

Compare that to the French Ligue1

The top seven teams had positive goal advanatages but scored far fewer goals. Just on a goals basis Lyon who were champions scored plus 37 which would have put them fifth in England.

The bottom six were in negative equity but nowhere near as badly as in England, leaving a middle rump of seven teams with rough parity when one allows for the fact that bottom clubs Metz and Strasbourgh shipped 57 goals between them. Bit the six middling placed clubs all had between five and seven draws away from home.

But look at the number of draws from the top - out of 38 games, seven, nine, 11, 15, 10, 10, 18, 16, 18, 16. It is not quite 50% but the figures show clearly this is a league to bet on old style - go for the draws. In the Premier League the percentage is closer to an average 25%.

So we conclude that France is a lower scoring league all round, much more likely to yield a winning result on 1-0. We conclude there will be a higher percentage of draws. And we conclude that the bottom clubs are vulnerable to not just losing, but losing big.

Waving the flag - Rafa Benitez introduces Robbie Keane to Anfield

Goals win titles, but whether Robbie Keane is the missing part in the Rafa Benitez jigsaw puzzle remains to be proven. On paper Keane might score 20 goals a season, albeit so might anyone else alongside Fernando Torres. But in fact the best he managed in six years at Spurs was 16 goals in a season. Keane is also a robust player not dissimilar to Dirk Kuyt who impressed for Holland in the the Uefa European Championships. If the on/off saga of Gareth Barry’s move from Aston Villa goes through, then the summer would have seen a significant change in the Benitez thinking, opting for proven pushy Premier League performers or little known younger players he can groom. Last week he also picked up the promising French talent David Ngog who may pop in a few goals too although he might be better employed as far as the Kop is concerned creating them.

Strangely goals were not Liverpool’s major issue last season. They had the same goal difference as Chelsea who finished 11 points clear. They only scored four less than Arsenal. Admittedly they were 19 goals short on Manchester United but that was because United were showboating while Liverpool were scrapping. They are still 7/1 this morning to win the premiership.

Liverpool open the season away to Sunderland where Roy Keane has also been shipping in some proven top flight experience in the shape of Bolton’s El-Hadji Douf, the Tottenham pair Teemu Tianio and Pascal Chimbonda with more to come. Liverpool are 3/4 to win at the Stadium of Light in the late kick off on August 16. It is games like these that Liverpool need to win to get into contention but historically in recent seasons they have been slow starters.

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Bet on Spurs

Darren Bent celebrates his hatrick against Norwich, and for good measure then banged in another from 10 yards

Has Juande Ramos discovered a new striking sensation or at least revived the potential of an old one. The £16.5 million Spurs shelled out on Darren Bent looked a tad overpriced but last night he banged in four goals in a 5-1 thumping of Norwich at Carrow Road. Roy Keane was apparently ready to take Bent to Sunderland along with four or five others which is ther sort of deal that could almost see the Stadium of Light becoming a feeder club for the north Londoners. But if Ramos does sell Dimitir Berbatof- who stayed on the bench last night - to Manchester United then he has been playing a long game with his strike force, which would see three front line strikers offloaded for the best part of £60 million. Perhaps as a Spaniard he fancies the strength of Bent up front to just tap in as he did last night for the fifth goal after an end to end passing move. Maybe he thinks centre forwards are overrated? His other purchases have seemed so canny in midfield and defence, that it would be disrepectful to presume that he has not got a master plan unfolding.

Bet on Spurs to win the Premier League. Great odds at 64/1.

Bet on Spurs to win at Middlesbrough on first day of season

White hart Lane.

One thing is probably for sure is that whatever shuffle Juande Ramos is thinking about with his £50 million that he could pick up by selling Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United and Robbie Keane to Liverpool, one name not on his team sheet for next season will  be the £800,000 teenager John Bostock that Spurs bought from Crystal Palace.

Suddenly Ramos finds himself in the thick of football’s increasingly vapid moral debate. At one end selling Berbatov to Manchester United is tantamount to saying that Tottenham cannot keep up with the big four.…..

Berbatov like Gianfranco Zola was at Chelsea and Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal is a talismanic player. You cannot sell him to the opposition without ripping the heart out of the club whatever the price. Fans pay to see great players and Totenham are the losers whoever they bring in. To sell the loyal Keane too is a double wound. The big money boys at Sky and the BBC of course don’t care where they play. The cameras can move. But a fan is not going to swap shirts. He may abandon the game first.

Another argument of course is that Alex Ferguson is probably right in his judgement that Berbatov can make United that much stronger which is to every other team’s disadvantage. And while it is fashionable to point the money bags finger at Chelsea, Ferguson himself is not exactly frugal in his purchases with a team that was bought for more than £100 million and some. Nor has Rafa Benitez been a skinflint in the trabnsafer market but giving him Keane to partner Fernando Torres is also a bit like saying that Ramos is not interested in fourth place either.

At the other end of the conveyor belt, the disaffected Palace chairman Simon Jordan points out that £800,000 is not a lot for a teenage England Under 17 prodigy, not enough at least to justify and encourage smaller clubs to run feeder training academies for youngsters on the basis that every once in a while one of them will be good enough to cammand the kind of fee that could make talent spotting, training and community effort more than an exercise in charity.

Fabio Capello has inherited an English team in disarray – we won’t discuss the merits of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – and which can hardly be helped when big clubs follow the movement of labour and prefer to buy, like Arsenal, from Marseille than from Mansfield.

Bostock, the Blackfriars schoolboy who made his debut as a second-half substitute against Watford, added his name to a list of 34 players, including Matthew Etherington, Peter Lorimer and Neil McNab, who have made their competitive debuts for a professional team under the age of 16. He is quick and could have been a hurdler but also academic and might have gone to university. There have been professional footbalers who have done both. Teenage tennis players manage it by distance learning.

“Bostock will not just be a good player? He can be a great player. He has a good left foot and that makes him easy on the eye, he is a good size, can run all day, pass short and pass long,” said former Palace manager Peter Taylor.

“When he first started training with the first team he would take three touches of the ball, but I encouraged him to watch Gareth Barry and Cesc Fabregas; they take one and still they never lose it.”

Bostock probably should have stayed at Palace for another season where at least under Neil Warnock he could have expected first team football and a bit of a clattering from Championship halfbacks. But football’s problem is that it will inevitably blame the boy, not itself. England’s problem is that Ramos is a Spaniard and will probably compound the malaise. Spurs are 64/1 against winning the league. As they don’t even know their team at the moment, that looks short odds, indeed. The moneymen of course though know the balance in the bank. An A side ticket on the Upper West Stand is £75. That’s a lot of money to pay not watching a teenage prodigy or one of the most elegant centre forwards in Europe.