Belgium have never been classed amongst the powerhouses of international football, often left to simmer in the backwaters together with the nations that rarely manage to qualify for World Cups and European Championships. The spotlight probably won’t even be on them when they meet Wales in Cardiff this weekend for the opening match of qualification Group A for the World Cup in Brazil in two years’ time.
De Ja Vu does not often come as clear as Arsenal being in a perceived crisis having just sold their best players in the days building up to the new season, the accusations of a lack of ambition sounding like a broken record to Arsene Wenger now who has battled on for too long under the roof of strained resources and a sensible wage structure that, in the face of more affluent competition, renders trophies out of reach.
Only at a club with the mental past history of Queens Park Rangers can you expect to see a manager react to an opening day defeat by replacing the whole back four. A Swansea whirlwind may have blown any pre-season optimism away from Loftus Road but to resort to a carpentry-like renovation of a defence and give it the IKEA treatment at the calling of just one game is not the answer, regardless of its margin of defeat.
In a week dominated by the long-awaited return of the domestic season together with the back-pages being awash with transfer rumour and speculation ahead of next week’s closing of the summer window, many stories are likely to resonate more than two transfer deals involving players who once held high stock in Europe only to see their star fall with the same ruthlessness they once displayed in front of goal on a regular basis.
Blackburn’s attempt to bounce back to the Premier League will return to Ewood Park on Wednesday night, the place that provided Steve Kean with some of the ugliest scenes he has had to endure during a horrific tenure as Rovers’ boss. Kean hasn’t been back at the ground since a 1-0 defeat to Wigan hammered the final nail in Blackburn’s top tier coffin against a backdrop of vitriolic abuse that poured from the stands and threatened to overspill at the final whistle.
As if undeterred from his experiences at Chelsea where his attempts at radical change without waiting for the commodity of father time to have his say were stubbornly rebuffed by his playing staff with such determination that his future fell before them, Andre Villas-Boas is willing to go down the same route at Spurs in a desperate attempt to stamp his own identity on his new squad.
One of the most enduring plotlines in the Football League soap opera is the events at Vale Park and the financial troubles that have encapsulated Port Vale that have frustrated all involved the club for as long as the mind can cast back to, and still shows no sign of letting off despite dominating the headlines at the Staffordshire club for the majority of the summer.
As with all sporting disciplines, some will reach the ultimate pinnacle with an incredible talent and an unerring dedication to the training and practice that it takes to be the very best in the field, while others will disappear in their wake to be introduced to the cusp of failure.