By the time you read this, we may well have had another Premier League managerial casualty.
I started writing moments after Nottingham Forest had been beaten 3-0 at home by Chelsea – a contest which was actually far closer than the scoreline suggests.
Yet that is irrelevant in many ways.
For results have long been the currency of the national game and one point in five top-flight matches under Ange Postecoglou makes grim reading.
Of course, changing a manager mid-season is one thing; trying to adopt a completely new way of playing with the players you have inherited is largely unwise – a point I made emphatically last Christmas.
All it means is that the Aussie who was appointed little over a month ago is facing relentless pressure and, while not immune to the boo-boys, any frustration and anger should really be directed at club owner Evangelos Marinakis who foolishly sacked Nuno Espirito Santo.
Chairman and club owners rarely face the music and instead sack the men they appoint so, with Postecoglou overseeing six defeats and two draws from his first eight matches in charge, he may pay the price.
STOP PRESS:
Within an hour of the full-time whistle at the City Ground, the anticipated news has now been confirmed and his 39-day stint in the Midlands is over and being dissected by all and sundry.
Forest have reportedly made early contact with former Everton manager Sean Dyche with a view to replacing Postecoglou, while ex-Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is another contender.
The former seems a much safer bet and someone who will ensure they don’t get dragged into a dog fight near the foot of the table.
My tips for the drop at the start of the season were any three from five – the trio of promoted teams alongside Wolves and Brentford.
Well Burnley and Sunderland have certainly offered much more so far this term than I was expecting.
They did again this weekend too and there was a distinct French connection in both successes.
Lesley Ugochukwu and Loum Tchaouna, both compatriots in the Rennes youth team, scored the goals as the Clarets saw off last season’s Championship winners Leeds at Turf Moor.
The latter’s match-winning goal midway through the second half was a 30 yard stunner to settle the encounter.
On Wearside, Sunderland sealed their fourth win from eight league games and it’s hard for this SBOTOP writer not to admire the work of manager Régis Le Bris.
Like Burnley, their victory against another team expected to struggle, makes the points seem extra priceless.
Nordi Mukiele was arguably the best player on the pitch and netted 16 minutes in before a stoppage time own goal made sure of the points.
Wolves have failed to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season and their latest concession merely served to confirm their fragility.
The game of the weekend saw two in-form teams (the Eagles and the Cherries) go toe-to-toe at Selhurst Park and they didn’t disappoint.
It was pretty relentless stuff as teenager Eli Kroupi put Bournemouth 2-0 ahead with two goals on his first Premier League start
Popular Frenchman Jean-Philippe Mateta netted twice in five minutes for Crystal Palace to make it 2-2 and that was how it seemed set to stay.
Yet within a minute of the 90 remaining, Ryan Christie looked to have won it for Bournemouth.
Still the drama was not over and it was left to Mateta to convert a penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage-time penalty to make it 3-3 which was how it stayed.
A cracking game between two sides and two managers who, like Le Bris, deserve genuine respect.
It may seem harsh not to give my man of the weekend to Kroupi or Mateta (or even Haaland) but the player who deserves the accolade to me is the evergreen Brighton’s Danny Welbeck.
For a player who turns 35 next month, he is showing no signs of slowing up.
He lifted the ball over Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope to open the scoring just before the break on the south coast. Then, after new recruit Nick Woltemade had continued his fine start to life in English football with an equaliser, Welbeck again stuck expertly from the edge of the box to spark Seagulls celebrations.
One of Welbeck’s former teams have delivered some Premier League 2025 highlights of late and stayed top of the table with a hard fought victory in west London.
Arsenal were at Fulham and out to end their recent bogey run.
Last year, when victory was essential, they could only manage a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
The previous season they were pegged back, conceding a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates before losing 2-1 by the Thames four months later.
Such a repeat result was not an option Mikel Arteta and his players wanted to countenance and they didn’t.
The crucial moment arrived 13 minutes after the restart when centre-back Gabriel flicked on a Bukayo Saka corner and Leandro Trossard was well positioned to fire home from close range.
That settled the contest on a night when young teenager Joshua King once more shone for the hosts.
It may only be October but it seemed like it could be a precious win against really spirited opponents.
Into Sunday and Aston Villa, inspired by Morgan Rogers, gained a fine victory at Spurs to suggest their revival just before the international break could become a permanent arrangement.
The final game of the weekend was a blockbuster – a clash between the two most successful sides in the country, by quite a distance.
The Premier League 2025 betting odds emphatically backed the home side in what was the 100th meeting at Anfield between Liverpool and Manchester United.
Of all the places to score the winner, the so often maligned Harry Maguire, ‘old slab head’ himself, could not have wished for better.
After going more than 10 months without winning back-to-back league games, Ruben Amorim only went and ended that unacceptable record at the home of their biggest rivals.
The Portuguese manager’s best day yet in charge and a fourth successive defeat for the Merseysiders to cap yet another relentless weekend in the Premier League from start to finish.
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