This weeks news concerning the apparent departures of Brendan Rodgers and Paul Lambert to Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively means that the warm glow of satisfaction hanging over The Liberty Stadium and Carrow Road following a job well done last season seems unlikely to last for much longer. Swansea City and Norwich City were treated with derision by many upon their arrival into the Premier League a year ago, but the two clubs confounded expectations to complete their first seasons in their new home with so much as the concept of relegation crossing their minds.

Morning all and it's Friday, at last.

News is somewhat scarce but we'll muddle on and find something to talk about. We could start with the fact the club gave some futher insight into the appointments of Steve Bould and Neil Banfield. We know that the former is going to be Arsene's assistant but Banfield thought he was just going to have a chat about the reserves when the boss called him into his office:

The manager invited me into his office, and with Steve Bould going up to be assistant manager I thought that he may have pulled me in to explain his decision.

By Walter Broeckx

We have said it before that the PGMOL is an organisation that works in a strange way. They want to make us believe that the ref appointments are done randomly. And as I have pointed out the refs should be appointed in an open way with each time getting each ref only [...]

Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal

By DogFace

Referee: Chris Foy Assistant 1: John Flynn Assistant 2: Darran Cann 4th Official: Andre Marriner

Good morning stat-fans and welcome to RefWatch...

There are some interesting appointments for this weekend's and midweek fixtures.

Why do the Premier League via the PGMOB insist on giving absolute control to such a small number of referees?
Out of the ten EPL matches this weekend, seven games are under the control of just five officials (the usual suspects being Webb, Dean, Atkinson, Dowd and Marriner).
Each of these referees has two appointments over the window!

Liverpool stopper Pepe Reina knows that the coming months are set to be pivotal to the club's push for a top four place this season.
The Reds are desperate for a return to the Champions League after missing out on Europe altogether last term, and have showed signs that they are one of the teams to beat after beating Chelsea and drawing with Manchester City in back-to-back league matches.

Updated with press release from today. This is now official. Statements from Sigi and Boss.

Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Terry Boss suffered a concussion against Manchester United in the infamous friendly and a few weeks later another while suiting up for the Puerto Rico National Team.

Perhaps I'm showing my age but Robbie Fowler most definitely ain't of my era. I was getting ensconced in Bangkok as he started making ripples in the Premier League and I remember him scoring a quick fire hat trick for Liverpool against Arsenal in one of his early games.
Now I've moved on from Bangkok and he has moved there.

Perhaps I'm showing my age but Robbie Fowler most definitely ain't of my era. I was getting ensconced in Bangkok as he started making ripples in the Premier League and I remember him scoring a quick fire hat trick for Liverpool against Arsenal in one of his early games.
Now I've moved on from Bangkok and he has moved there.

Sven-Goran Eriksson sacked by Leicester City Telegraph.

Leicester City today dismissed, or "agreed by mutual consent to part ways" depending on which news source you trust, former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson after 12 months in charge and after something close to $20m of player purchases had been flushed down the sewer.

Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal By DogFace Referee: Stuart Attwell Assistant 1: Steve Bennett Assistant 2: Andy Halliday 4th Official: Jon Moss Good morning stat-fans and welcome to RefWatch... guess what – we now have an official release of data for referee appointments... (possibly due to the fact that we were all getting the data [.

French International, one-time calendar boy/proud nudist and Valencia central defender took some time out of his busy Albanian tourist schedule to remind us why he's out of our league:

'[My] type is Eva Longoria, Eva Mendes, Megan Fox, Shakira. I think it is clear that if I have to choose, I prefer brunettes.

French International, one-time calendar boy/proud nudist and Valencia central defender took some time out of his busy Albanian tourist schedule to remind us why he's out of our league:

'[My] type is Eva Longoria, Eva Mendes, Megan Fox, Shakira. I think it is clear that if I have to choose, I prefer brunettes.

And now for the grownup response.

If anything Hughes' resignation makes me more glad I renewed my season ticket. Which sounds odd, but at no point did I especially warm to Mark Hughes. Not that warming to a manager matters a hill of beans in the big scheme of things, but Hughes and Fulham never did feel quite right.

Liverpool's U.S. owners have finally signed Kenny Dalglish to a three-year deal to manager Liverpool.

Dalglish has restored pride and optimism on Merseyside. Consider that when he took over from Roy Hodgson in January, Liverpool were 12th in the Premier League, four points above the relegation zone.

Liverpool's U.S. owners have finally signed Kenny Dalglish to a three-year deal to manager Liverpool.

Dalglish has restored pride and optimism on Merseyside. Consider that when he took over from Roy Hodgson in January, Liverpool were 12th in the Premier League, four points above the relegation zone.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes that the club's transfer policy must be judged after a few years, whilst hailing director of football Damien Comolli and managing director Ian Ayre.
The duo was promoted to their current positions last month, and it has been reported that the manager is working with the Frenchman to outline potential targets for the upcoming transfer window.

It's a long way from Chelsea to Grozny, but in one of the most extraordinary appointments in recent sporting history, the legendary Dutch footballer and former Chelsea boss Ruud Gullit has been unveiled as the new manager of Terek Grozny, the Russian premier league club from the country's restive region of Chechnya.

I Hope West Ham Win! Not something you'll hear a Spurs fan say everyday, and I know there are plenty of you out there that are all for the move to the Olympic Stadium but there are a lot of us that don't want to. While you may think this is just another anti Stratford blog update it's more than that and I hope even if you're very pro moving, you'll appreciate the possibilities of what I'm about to say.