The Grand Opening

The new season is nearly upon us, ladies and gentlemen. I have been rubbing my hands and other bodily parts for a while now, all in anticipation for the 2007/8 campaign to begin. It's been an extremely difficult summer without any international football, which has probably contributed to my high levels of excitement and increased incidents of knocking things over and wetting the bed. I've become a mess; I can't live without football. Actually, that may be a slightly over-romantic way of putting it. Football isn't about life and death - it's more important than that.

I think I should begin by introducing myself to you. My name is The Football League Spy, and I have been sent on a mission to observe the leagues in England and Scotland and bring you my take on all things that catch my attention. It could be a lot; it could be very little. It could be serious stuff; it could be ridiculous stories. It could be transfer news; it could be idle transfer gossip. Either way, much will depend on my discipline to update this blog, but more than likely it will depend on my mood.

I don't think a pre-season discussion would be complete without a few predictions, would it? I don't want to make obvious ones, like:

Christiano Ronaldo will at some point cheat in order to win a penalty

Or

José Mourinho will get on a lot of people's tits by talking bollocks instead of criticising his team

It is my intention to remain as balanced as possible, but, as we all know, football fans aren't balanced. I apologise for this in advance. There are some things that just grind on me, and I don't intend to hide them because what's the point? If you want level-headed, nicey-nicey, tepid comments then you can just switch on the TV and watch Match of the Day and listen in amazement to Mark Lawrenson's banality. "But we don't want to give you that!".

Yes, I can be grumpy. But let's not get confused between being grumpy and simply speaking your mind. I may have one or two biased outlooks on football life, but that's just part and parcel of the game. If you don't like what I have to say, then there's always ITV.

For now, folks.