Season 29 Week 4 processing...

Welcome to week 4.

Reset is underway...

Data entry is well underway and it looks like the games will be on schedule to kickoff at 1000 hours Wednesday morning for those that want to watch it all unfold live...

The Friendly games have kicked off...

League games will kickoff at 1000 hours Wednesday morning...

Two hours until kickoff and as usual we have some big games to look forward to, none bigger than Charlton against Premiership leaders Aston Villa, where Charlton are unchanged although they do make a tiny switch in tactics especially for Villa, who themselves are forced into a change as Milner comes in to replace the injured Fabregas and Paulinho switches to target man. Should be an interesting game.

Champions Plymouth must travel to Selhurst Park where Palace have an excellent record and boss Ben Wilson must be expecting a tough game as he drafts in Matic and Fernandinho to his midfield and drops Ramsey to the bench, tough game for both sides with Palace searching high and low for a world class left winger still.

An easier game might be in store for Manchester City who travel to St Andrews to take on a struggling Birmingham side who despite have some world class players find themselves struggling to gel on the pitch when it matters most.

Not so easy this week for Watford as Phil Green takes his star-studded squad to Old Trafford in search of three points although i'm sure fans of the north London club will be expecting their all-star strike force of Bale, Kane, Eriksen and De Bruyne to secure the win.

Promoted Arsenal will need to find a way to get something from the cauldron of noise that is Anfield as the Liverpool boss keeps a settled side despite a near world record bid this week for Zaha from Palace. Only one change for the gunners as young Loftus-Cheek replaces Denilson in the starting eleven.

Newcastle have been a bit hit and miss this season following their promotion relying heavily on the ageing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to make their counter attacking style work and the boss is absent this week with no orders for their trip to Fulham, who themselves are always tough to beat at Craven Cottage.

Well my day off today will consist of refreshing the forum about 1000 per minute and also doing some learning on;

The Socio-Cultural Environment and Gantt Charts... The Joys! ha

Champions Nantes travel to the Stade Saint-Symphorien to take on Metz in what should be a walk in the park for them, although to be fair, every week is pretty much the same because Tom has fashioned the perfect side, probably the best run best organised side in the game at the moment. It's very hard to see past Nantes lifting yet another French title but I fully expect the likes of Monaco, Marseille, Paris and Etienne to give it their best shot.

The Paris boss will be hoping that his long running strike partnership of Briand, Menez and Gomis can unpick the Toulouse defence. But the big game this week in France has to Marseille against Monaco where I expect the Stade Velodrome to be buzzing in what is an early season six pointer. Etienne for their part host a vital match for them as they go in search of a win they desperately need because despite having a squad good enough to challenge Nantes they nearly always under achieve and seem to be going the same way this season. Too many languages is not a good thing at the very top level.

Schalke are favorites to retain their Bundesliga title this season with Andy's star studded squad the best rated side in the world, and despite the fact Andy has to regularly rotate his players to keep them happy and despite having star players regularly sitting on his bench, he is currently making it all work as he chases another incredible "Treble" of trophies. But it'll be interesting to see what happens if his side gets knocked out of one  of the cup competitions and he can't play everyone every week. Should be interesting again this season for the Schalke faithful.

The only side anywhere near Schalke's quality in Germany is Bayern Munich but they are struggling in the early season games with being under trained, the boss having missed two games already this season as he tends his sick wife. But knowing Matt he will get it right in the end but he does need to start soon else Schalke will be too far away to catch.

I fully expect Spain to be very interesting this season with Valencia keen to try and keep their title under severe pressure from both Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the big game this week is Real's trip to La Mestrella to play Valencia. No orders this week from Real boss Richard Allen but plenty of orders from the Valencia boss John Simmons who has seen his title defence stutter early doors and may need to refine his bonus strategy to better benefit league title winners.

A couple of things to note here.

Firstly a player who has won a league title in the previous season needs extra incentives to play with the same commitment a non-title winner requires. Non-title winners expect a 10% win bonus but it is doubled for title winners.

Secondly a player who is over 32 ( 33 and over ) will automatically take a two point hit to his current rating and this applies to all players now because I removed the protectedCR values from player stats. I was spending several hours each week going through players with protectedCRs checking to make sure they were still relevant for that player and that's time I no longer have.

Ancona did very well last year and probably surprised a lot of people with their style of play as not many managers play the winger dynamo style but it affectively gives Ancona five forwards yet surrenders the midfield. This week they will be hoping to beat a tough Napoli side in front of their own fans to continue their progress. As for Napoli they have been disappointing since their "Double" winning season back in season 26, fans were expecting more and they haven't delivered but it is never too late and a complete revamp of Napoli's bonus structure, backroom staff and subs bench have now been completed and the boss is hoping the changes will make his side more competitive. A win this week at a very strong Ancona would be a good start for them.

If Fiorentina had a better defence they could be a real force in Italy although their strike force is full of riches the same cant be said of their defence and they need to find suitable replacements this season for the ageing legs of Sneijder and Thiago for sure. They have an easier game this week against Parma at the Artemio Franchi where they should be too strong for the visitors.

Milan have improved leaps and bounds last year and again became contenders and I fully expect that to continue this season but they have a tough game at home to Lazio this week that they need to win to maintain their fine run of form. As for Lazio they are looking much improved and look as though they could be contenders this year.

But for me the big game this week in Italy sees Juventus travel to the Giuseppe Meazza to play Inter Milan and with everybody fit they stand a good chance of getting all three points as Inter seem a bit unpredictable this season. Big changes in squad personnel haven't done anything to help Inter's results and for them a lot will depend on getting the best from Neymar. Can he play alongisde an Argentine and a Croatian ? Three different languages may result in a few communication difficulties for the first ten games together but by the time they all settle in it may be too late for Inter's title hopes.

Another point worth remembering is that playing Friendly games helps team understanding.

Santos at the foot of the table is something I've not seen since the very early days of the game when they we're unmanaged and pundits are unsure of why exactly they are not firing on all cylinders as normal, yet they need three points from the visit of Coritiba this week or their title challenge could already be over at the end of week four.

Fluminense have started on fire as everyone expected and their star studded squad travels to Estadio Beira-Rio this week as they are expected to beat Internacional to maintain their good start to the season. Sao Paulo continue to disappoint fans although a culling of their extraneous players will undoubtedly help them improve results and concentrate the minds of those players that remain, they have an easier game this week at home to Goias, although a midfield that consists of anchormen may not help them much going forward.

Surprise team of the season is the resurgence of one time great side Flamengo now under the control of new boy Jock Wasley, they look capable to mounting a challenge this season with the likes of Talisca, Rafinha and Camacho all on top form, it could be interesting for them if they can go to places like Estadio Sao Januario and grab all three points although it wont be easy this week beating Vasco in what is known as the Milhoes Derby.

The players are out for their warmups as we approach kickoff...

The ref calls everyone to order as the players take their places...the fans chant and the managers look pensive...

Entertainers trudge off having done their job well and the ref checks his watch...

the ref blows his whistle and we're underway, good luck to everybody...

First goal of the day bulges the back of the net in Argentina as the deadly Nelson Bonilla strikes.

Belgrano 1 Racing Club 0 Bonilla on 4 minutes.

Portsmouth 0 Hartlepool 1 Lewis Hawkins on 5 minutes.

Promoted Hartlepool are taking the division by storm already and look odds on favorites for a second straight promotion...good start for them...

Bohemians 0 Cork City 1 Shayron Curiel freekick on 6 minutes.
Estudiantes 1 Boca 0 Robert Flores.

Unmanaged Boca continue to struggle in midtable...Cork take the lead in the top of the tabel clash at Bohemians...

Inter 1 Juventus 0 Icardi on 7 minutes.

First blood for Inter as Icardi slips free to get the opener...

Banstead 1 Stoke 0 Bunn penalty on 8 minutes.

Harry Bunn called up for Scotland this week celebrates from the penalty spot...

Bristol City 1 Darlington 0 Evandro Goebel penalty on 9 minutes.
Airdrie 0 Celtic 1 Marcus Fraser header.

Ashton Gate erupts into applause as the Robins continue their excellent start to the season...

Twente 0 Ajax 1 Huntelaar on 10 minutes.
Fiorentina 1 Parma 0 Saponara.
Stirling 0 Aberdeen 1 Raul Jimenez.

No surprises here...