THE ALLURE OF ENGLISH FOOTBALL

It's mid-November in the Barclays Premier League and, with international fixtures dominating the midweek calendar, plenty of football fans have had time to step back and assess the general state of play.

What's new? Well, the title race is still truly billed as United v Chelsea. There are a couple of stray horses in the leading pack but if you believe the papers one is expected to lose ground and the other its jockey. Elsewhere, Liverpool are still in transition, Joey Barton is still getting into trouble and Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are still comfortably two of the best midfielders in the country, if not Europe. My point? Some things never change.

That's not true on all counts, though. This season has thrown up a few interesting surprises: Andy Carroll is now a full England international, Bolton are currently a top-five club and United are unbeatable but have found a lot of games unwinnable. All this certainty and uncertainty beautifully illustrates why football is the unofficial eighth wonder of the world.

Credit must go to some of the top flight’s new faces. From Asamoah Gyan to Rafael van Der Vaart, many of the transfer-window signings have been inspired. Team-wise, West Brom have been boinging around impressively to try and shake off the yo-yo tag, Spurs have flirted with the spectacular in Europe and while City break the bank, Blackpool have broken the mould with bargain signings and a barmy boss.

Allow me to dwell for a second on the effervescent Ian Holloway, without doubt the most entertaining star in the top flight. He's football’s boy done good, a verbal West Country pin-up, if you will. You never know what’s going to happen next when the Blackpool boss is around, but you can guarantee you’ll be entertained. His pre and post-match honesty has been as refreshing off the pitch as his team’s fearlessness on it. I, for one, hope they stay up. What's more, they’ve rekindled my love for tangerines.

From a United perspective, I know Sir Alex's men are frustrated they haven’t closed out more matches. Vida and Berba have both told me in the past that this unpredictability is what brought them to these shores in the first place. At a club like this, the challenge is to force normal service to resume when the unthinkable happens.

And while you can rely on some things in England’s top flight, others can jump up and bite you where it hurts, and when you least expect it. Let's hope there are no more nasty surprises for United between now and Christmas. I, like most United fans, expect nothing short of six points from our next two league games against Blackburn and Blackpool. Even if Holloway stands in our way for the latter fixture.