Manchester mare!

What a great start for Mark Hughes, not! Boardroom chaos caused much press speculation as to whether he would step up to the task and now he has, he gets an absolute mare of a result in the early rounds of the UEFA cup. Rangers had a mare in the last round but this wasn't unexpected in my books as Liverpool struggled against the same team a couple of years ago or so. City though were woeful.

The most difficult time of the year to predict results in football matches are the start and end of the season. The start of the season can offer pointers though as a lot of top sports rely not just on skill, but mindset also. I imagine Man City players are not feeling great at the moment and it will take a really good performance against Aston Villa on Saturday to make them feel a bit better. When competing at the highest level your mind and motivation can make a huge difference between the fine line of winning and losing. I have City's card marked at the moment and I am also watching what happens at Hughes old club Blackburn. I am not convinced that Ince can cut it at a top level but I can't really make a judgement on that till I see some evidence. I'll also be looking for one of the three promoted teams to outperform, which one though I can't tell yet you are the moment, its just too early.