It may not suprise those that know me to hear that last night I went down the pub. Far more of a surprise to me was that also down the Old Fire Station were two colleagues of mine while their teams were playing in the UEFA Cup. Andrew, a long standing Spurs fan, told me he had no interest in their game whatsoever while Ross, our resident die-hard Aston Villa fan, seemed unduly concerned by his team's plight in Moscow as he chatted to every bit of skirt he could.

It has to be said that the manager of their respective teams placed similar importance on second leg ties that looked eminently conquerable. Martin O'Neill angered those Villa fans who had paid upwards of £1,000 to head to the Russian capital by fielding the likes of Marc Albrighton, Moustapha Salifou and the mighty Barry Bannan.

Over at White Hart Lane, in a game untelevised in the UK, Harry "Most 'umble" Redknapp, selected a second-stringers' line-up which featured plenty of top-level experience yet included a ridiculously youthful strike force of Frazier Campbell and Jonathan Obika, whose wearing of the number "80" on his shirt shows his place in the pecking order. And check out the bench: Oscar Jansson, Calum Butcher, Adam Smith, John Bostock, Dean Parrett, Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend. I have to confess I have only heard of Bostock and I don't think this Adam Smith is the same one who authored "The Wealth of Nations".

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed - for lack of a better word - is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms - greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind." - Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's Wall Street.

"You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out." - Billionaire financial guru Warren Buffet.

Above this lie two contrasting quotes that act as a “before and after” of the world's current financial malaise. The first, despite being written by Stone to expose the conceits of the so-called "Masters of the Universe" by turning them into a gruesome Hollywood bad guy, became a cult phrase along those who worked in the financial centres of the world. Some shared Gekko's beliefs and, it seems, some shared his business practices too.

While it is tempting to again go on the attack against Rafael Benitez for his latest Uriah Heep-style "most humble" bemoaning of poor little Liverpool's lack of spending, I will refrain this time on account of the fact that I have read two separate translations of an interview with Spanish newspaper AS and both threw up different spins on the story. Suffice to say, I still think he could keep his trap shut.

I am more drawn to a link recently brought to my attention. It offers what could possibly be a panacea to all the squabbling that goes on in football. The Grudge Match Series, set to be launched next month, breathlessly describes itself as "a new concept in sports and reality TV" in which "former professional sports stars will be facing each other again, but this time it's different. Instead of their chosen sports, Grudge Match will see these rivals take to the boxing ring to meet one-on-one!"

We get underway in March with a London event featuring Spurs v Chelsea in which we can "See Steve Sedgley, Kerry Dixon, Clive Walker, David Speedie, Micky Hazzard and Graham Roberts in action!!!!"

Two managerial departures dominated our news agenda on Monday and as Jon Carter said in his comment piece on Luiz Felipe Scolari's sacking, one was certainly more surprising than the other.

Tony Adams' sacking came as a shock to only him, it seems. Weekend reports that Portsmouth chief exec Peter Storrie had been canvassing players' opinions on their boss showed the end was near if not already decided.

Scolari's removal, as dramatic as that of Jose Mourinho from the same club, was unexpected in the sense that few could see the Brazilian as a long-term appointment yet it was expected that he would see out this season at least. A quick casting of the mind back will show that the vibes from Stamford Bridge were similar to those that preceded the Portugese coach's exit in October 2007. Both felt sudden but the signs had been there for some time.

Rafa Benitez has been my man of the season so far. Though maybe not for the right reasons; he just keeps writing headlines for us. That seems likely to last until the end of this season at the very least. Here’s my thoughts on his latest ill-tempered outburst.

Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Everton threw up further questions around the mindset of their manager.

Rafael Benitez's post-match comments were a model in self justification and did little service to his team or their opponents, who were worthy if tardy winners on the night.

Greetings.

Welcome to the first edition of my Editor's Blog, in which, I, John Brewin will hold forth on football matters. As I'm new to this blogging lark I will promise little other than opinion and triviality, which seem to be an overriding function of much of the blogosphere. I hope you care to share in my journey into a discipline (or lack of) with which I'm unfamiliar.

Where better to start than a now closed transfer window? I say "now closed" because Arsenal have finally signed that Russian bloke. That threatened to go on all year. So, here's my A-Z view of each Premier League club's dealings. I've linked off to each club's Soccernet page so you can get all the facts and figures.