By Chris Wright

Not that it was ever going to happen anyway, but the FA have kicked Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta's ambitions of representing England square in the danglers after citing a little-known FIFA bylaw.

Spanish-born Arteta admitted that he was open to the idea of receiving an England call-up after qualifying for selection by completing the necessary five-year residency period, but the FA have now confirmed that the 28-year-old is ineligible after all due to having represented Spain in official competition at junior level.

As part of our series on Non-League football ahead of this weekend's Non-League Day, Southampton supporter Neil Cotton travelled the short distance to Havant, on the outskirts of Portsmouth, to see Havant & Waterlooville take on Eatsleigh in an early season local derby in the Blue Square South.

The following is a column, representing the ideas and opinions of a Premiership Talk columnist. It in no way reflects the opinions of Premiership Talk. Readers are invited to share their own thoughts in the comments section following the column.

Another transfer season is officially in the books.

Mat Davis and Luke from Pelada

Last week Briggs and I headed down to West L.A. to support Luke and Gwendolyn of the documentary Pelada at their Los Angeles premier. It's been about 6 months since I first interviewed them for the site and it was great to spend a little time with them and to see the packed theater full of soccer lovers.

Gerard Houllier gave an outstanding presentation at the NSCAA Convention a couple of years ago, and that same presentation by the new Aston Villa manager came up in a column by J Hutcherson today -

I once watched Gerard Houllier give a presentation at an NSCAA Convention that on the surface could've easily been dismissed.

Gerrard Houllier has just completed his scheduled press conference at Villa Park well, so far as Sky Sports' questions go and said all the right things. He showed deference to our history and pedigree, while talking about his pride and passion in taking this job.

He briefly outlined his ambitions, which included Europe and silverware, while making it clear he intends to build on our existing squad and facilities, not attempt to start afresh with his own version of Aston Villa.

Gerrard Houllier has just completed his scheduled press conference at Villa Park well, so far as Sky Sports' questions go and said all the right things. He showed deference to our history and pedigree, while talking about his pride and passion in taking this job.

He briefly outlined his ambitions, which included Europe and silverware, while making it clear he intends to build on our existing squad and facilities, not attempt to start afresh with his own version of Aston Villa.

Now THIS is what I'm talking about. A nice day... coolish, autumnish. This may be the only positive thing to come out of this day. After another yet anemic performance against Chicago, hope is fading on another year of Toronto FC post-season ambitions. If only the 4pm kick-off wasn't a problem.

Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted he had no interest in signing Joe Cole over the summer.
The England international left Chelsea in June after failing to negotiate a new contract with the Premier League champions. A host of clubs, including Manchester United, were linked with Cole, but the midfielder eventually decided to join Liverpool.

The American, who met Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton in London for talks last week, hopes the deal with the Blackstone/GSO Group will allow him another two years to find a buyer for the Merseyside club, who face Manchester United today.
The deal reportedly does not include any funds to buy new players or to build a new stadium.

They had talked, during the week, of what the crowd might be on Saturday. That the average home crowd of Lewes FC in the Blue Square South has risen by fifty per cent this season in spite of being near the bottom of the table says something in itself about the moves that are already being made to restore the links between the clubs and its community, but the club's hopes of getting the crowd up to 1,200 for the visit of Chelmsford City seemed optimistic.

Just as Liverpool's season looked like it might begin to take off thanks to some woeful Manchester United defending, Roy Hodgson stepped in to ensure that it remained on a downward trajectory. Steven Gerrard had dragged his team kicking and screaming back to 2-2 from 2-0 down, and the momentum, you would have to say, was with Liverpool, but then hapless Roy popped up with some uninspired substitutions.

AstonVilla midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker has apparently rejected an offer to play international football for Sierra Leone. At 26 it looked like his ambitions to play internationally for England have passed.

After representing England at the under-21-level and captaining them, along with club teams Wimbledon and West Ham United, a bright and long international career was expected.

There was only one USSF D2 Pro League game on Wednesday evening, a match between 10th place Miami FC and 11th place AC St. Louis. It's a game you wouldn't think would garner much interest. Yet supporters of 5 different USSF D2 Pro League teams all had eyes on the lone midweek match.

The first midweek round of Serie A has been played, which makes the programming schedule a little bit different, meaning here's another post from the "Weekend that was" series, except this one is "weekday that was". Serie A giants Brescia and Chievo are fulfilling their Scudetto ambitions and have a near perfect start with 9 points each, while minnows like Milan, Fiorentina, Roma, and Juventus are all struggling.

Manchester City's victory over Chelsea today could just be the turning point in their season. After a start which saw the Eastlands club drop vital points away at Sunderland and at home to Blackburn Rovers, the victory today could go a long way in to inspiring belief amongst the blue half of Manchester.

Arsenal 2-3 W.B.A.

I have for a long time inexplicably looked out for West Brom's results, a footballing peculiarity I can trace back to collecting Panini stickers in 1980, when theirs was the first team I had all the stickers for. At that time, with players like Robson and Regis, they were one of the better sides in the old First Division.

By Ollie Irish

This is just a hunch, but I am about to bet real money that both Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres will be playing in the sky blue of Manchester City next season, with Emmanuel Adebayor (definitely) and Carlos Tevez (possibly) nowhere to be seen at Eastlands.