Just after the third day of the 2008-09 Premier League season, two managers were shown the backdoor and the clubs concerned promptly began searching for a replacement. Former Chelsea midfielder Gianfranco Zola has already agreed to take over at West Ham United.
Many critics and fans have expressed solidarity with Alan Curbishley, the former West Ham manager, and Kevin Keegan, who has quit Newcastle.
Yet, Keegan should have opposed the raft of appointments at the club, including that of Dennis Wise as director of football, when these were made in the first place.
Most of the rich people buying into Premier League clubs have inflicted more damage than good on the English game.
In Curbishley's case, agent Kia Joorabchian, who had masterminded the loan transfers of Carlos Tevez, now at Manchester United, and Javier Mascherano, of Liverpool, to West Ham, claimed the manager had made too many errors in the transfer market and therefore, deserved to be sacked.
At Newcastle, Wise was in control of the club's transfer affairs and his influence on owner Mike Ashley was the main reason behind Keegan's departure. One wonders how Wise would have acted if he was the team's manager and his director told him to sign that player and not the other?
At Manchester City, the fans are rubbing their hands in glee after the club was taken over by a wealthy Middle East consortium for which money is no object in their pursuit of success.
Manager Mark Hughes must have a long list of transfer targets come January. Manchester City shocked the world of football when they signed Robinho from Real Madrid just before the September 1 transfer deadline but Hughes knows that the promise of a massive wage may not be enough to tempt other superstars to join his club.
Lancashire derby
Anfield. This afternoon, unbeaten Liverpool and Manchester United face each other for the first time this season.
Champions United have a game in hand, at home to Fulham, after it was postponed due to their UEFA Super Cup match in Monaco last month.
Both teams have a number of important players on the sidelines and the two managers, United's Alex Ferguson and Liverpool's Rafael Benitez, will be hoping that some of them will recover in time to play today.
Yet, Reds skipper Steven Gerrard has remarked that he will not play unless he's 100 per cent fit.
This clash of the titans could pit former Tottenham Hotspur strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane against each other. Berbatov is in line to make his debut for Manchester United while Keane has been a fixture in the Liverpool attack since his move from London.
City of Manchester Stadium. Chelsea must contend with Brazilian stalwart Robinho who wanted to join the Stamford Bridge outfit but instead finished at Eastlands. In his first interview after he signed for Manchester City, Robinho erroneously stated that he had joined the Londoners.
Robinho has vowed to make Chelsea pay after they failed to push through his transfer from Real Madrid. Manchester City will be keen on carving out a positive result against the early league leaders.
Good news for Chelsea is that their principal striker Didier Drogba is on the mend and could be in the squad but midfielder Michael Essien is out for 'several months' with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Ewood Park. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has decided to leave the cheque book in his club's safe and stick with his young and exciting squad. He was surely pleased to watch Theo Walcott in such great form for England in Croatia where the Arsenal youngster scored a hat-trick.
Amaury Bischoff, who joined the Gunners from Werder Bremen, a signing Wenger described as a 'gamble', is still not fully fit but could be in the squad for the Champions League next week.
Arsenal are away to Blackburn Rovers today. Blackburn drew against Hull in their first home match of the season.
The Hawthorns. Fifth-placed West Ham will be in the Midlands to take on bottom-placed West Brom. Albion's defender Neil Clement, who has yet to kick a ball this season, is hoping to avoid another operation to cure a knee problem.
In the last seven league and cup confrontations between the duo at West Brom's backyard, the home side failed to topple the Hammers, losing five and drawing twice. The last win at this venue for the guests came in the 'old' Division I in 1984-85, winning 5-1 (Cross, Grealish, Hunt, McKenzie 2 − Stewart pen.).
Fratton Park. Portsmouth, who in their last outing notched a 3-0 win at Everton, cross swords with Middlesbrough who have won twice by the odd goal in three.
Pompey manager Harry Redknapp, who enjoys the freedom he has at the club, felt sorry for Curbishley after the latter was sacked by West Ham.
Redknapp praised Curbishley for "sticking to his principles" and added that there was "no way" he would return to his old club as his successor.
Boro have distanced themselves from any foreign takeover and are glad to be one of the 11 clubs left in the Premier League that are English-owned.
White Hart Lane. One of the plum fixtures is scheduled for Monday night when new-look Tottenham clash with the improving Aston Villa. Juande Ramos's right-hand man, Gustavo Poyet is said to have been approached by Newcastle director Wise about replacing Keegan but the Uruguayan appears to be happy as Spurs number two.
Villa have strengthened their squad significantly this season and manager Martin O'Neill was glad to keep his captain Gareth Barry.
St James' Park. While the board is busy trying to find the right man to take over the hot seat - a common situation for Newcastle in the last five years - the Magpies entertain Hull this afternoon.
Reserves team coach Adam Sadler has been named caretaker manager of the Toon following the departure of long-serving first-team coach Terry McDermott.
The Tigers have lost their bite in their last outings. Manager Phil Brown has gone back to basics in a bid to improve the team's performances.
Craven Cottage. Fulham, whose squad has been revamped by boss Roy Hodgson in the summer, still look strong enough to retain their top-flight status for another season.
The Cottagers tackle Bolton who also brought in some fine players last month. Hodgson believes that with only 23 players in his first-team squad, youngsters will also be given their chance during the season.
Britannia Stadium. Tomorrow, Stoke City take on Everton who have lost twice at home and won the other fixture at West Brom. The Potters' only three-pointer came in front of their own fans.
Everton captain Phil Neville remarked that he was delighted with the arrival of former United team-mate Louis Saha. Australian midfielder Tim Cahill is back in full training and returns to the fray tomorrow.
JJB Stadium. After back-to-back defeats, Wigan have been boosted by their nap-hand triumph at Hull and will be keen to remain on the positive trek against Sunderland.
The Black Cats, third from bottom, have still to show their true form after their spending spree on new players this summer.