Brace Yourselves My Brethren, the Action Begins Again!

After two months of excruciating pain without any competitive football, the countdown to the new football season has finally begun!

If the Confederations Cup was meant to provide any relief to millions of football fanatics who were starved for action, it ended a little too early.

Oh Lord! What a blessing football is!

A game which crosses all boundaries of age, race, country and religion, football unites the human race.

Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in Rome effectively gave them the right to be called Kings of Europe, it also brought the curtains down on what was undoubtedly, quite a memorable season.

Thanks the heavens for preseason action and while silverware from the Emirates Cup and the Audi Cup may not carry any significance, it gives the fans, the opportunity to have a glimpse of what to expect when the actual season gets underway.

New signings are introduced to the spectators and the managers are given the chance to test them under new strategies, tactics and formations.

The off-season means transfer speculation reaches it's height.

'Money-Bags' (Real Madrid and Manchester City fall under this category) take full advantage of this opportunity, splashing the cash, left, right and centre, adding quality to their ranks with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor—regardless of how much they cost.

What a feeling it is, the anticipation, the excitement brought with them by new arrivals arriving at your club.

The media surely knows how to cash in on these football fanatics.

'They will sell you, what you want to hear.'

All this hype further deepens the level of frustration building inside the common football fan.

Questions begin to arise in our hearts and the answer seem to be at least a never-ending summer away.

• Can Arsenal cope without Adebayor and Toure?

• Are Owen and Valencia good enough to replace Tevez and Ronaldo?

• Can Carlo Ancelotti succeed in his first stint as a Premier League manager with Chelsea?

• Will this season see the Premier League trophy go to Anfield?

• How will Mark Hughes play four world-class strikers together?

• Can Barca retain the Champions League?

• Will Ronaldo and Kaka be flops at Madrid?

Questions...Questions...Questions...

In the Premier League, the focus might be on the top of the table with City hoping to break into the monopoly created by the Big Four.

However, I think it's a special feeling for the new boys—Burnley, Birmingham and Wolves—it will be exciting to see how they fare in the top flight, can they give the big boys, a run for their money?

For them it's like the first day of school all over again" new class, new friends, old foes? Beware of those bullies!

I feel your frustration, my brethren for football is in our blood.

Don't worry though, your agony is about to vanish, the countdown has began.

Here's to another season of some hard-fought, competitive football which will, hopefully, live long in our memories!