If Joleon Lescott gets his wish and joins City then his written transfer request makes sense, but otherwise I do fear that the Everton defender has rather misread the tea leaves. The Toffees manager, David Moyes, has been adamant that the England centre half wasn't leaving and as previously noted the Everton fans were magnificent in their support of the player in the last pre season friendly. Lescott should have taken the hint.

Now it has to be said that Everton seem to have misplayed this one as well. If the decision is that under no circumstances will they sell Lescott then there is absolutely no practical reason why the club should have announced that Lescott had handed in a written transfer request. There's a limit to the patience of the Everton fans and if an antagonistic relationship is now created between the fans and the player it will only be natural that the Lescott's form will be impacted. This appears to have been the first miss step that Moyes and co have made in this saga.

Such a public statement only makes sense if the decision has been made to sell. Otherwise all it does is create strife.

Elsewhere... An interesting start to the Championship season. Player of the Week was undoubtedly Newcastle Reserve Goalkeeper Tim Krul who replaced a banged up Steve Harper at half time of Newcastle's opening day contest against West Brom and proceeded to make a string of excellent saves. West Brom, who appear to be the class of the division both on paper and on the field could have won by at least a couple of goals if not for the heroics of the Newcastle stopper. And yet, Newcastle did not play badly and there was enough endeavour and grit about the Toon performance to also confirm that Newcastle should be in with a shout at the end of the season.

I still remain perplexed by the selection of Alan Smith to play a holding midfield role. Smith was a very good young striker in his Leeds days and yet this change to midfield, first started by Alex Ferguson, appears to have now stuck. Waste of a fine player, especially in the Championship where his skills should be fairly lethal.

You could make the argument for a dozen different teams gaining promotion this year. Those relegated last year, Newcastle, Middlebrough and West Brom are clearly quality outfits even if the psyche of Newcastle is in doubt. Sheffield United and Cardiff have both built excellent outfits while the A-52 duo of Nottingham Forest and Derby have useful squads and better managers. I'm not sure about Blackpool, but I really want them to do well just because of Ian Holloway who is the best post game interview of any manager in the League unless of course it's Neil Warnock at Crystal Palace. I'd pay good money to see them interviewed together after a Palace - Blackpool match.

Throw in Roy Keane's Ipswich in a division where Keane has already shown he can rocket up the table and Chris Coleman's Coventry and the pedigree of the managerial talent is rather impressive. Look for clubs knocked out of the Liquid Cup early to have an advantage through Christmas.

Update Derby and Sheffield United were knocked out of the Liquid Cup this evening boosting I believe their league challenge.