So Who's Bright Idea Was It To Give Us A Monday Night Kick Off?

 It's Sunday evening, we've got a game AWAY IN RUSSIA on Thursday night, and WE'VE STILL NOT PLAYED YET. How nonsensical is that?

 I understand Sky have a big say in fixture dates and times, and as an avid football watcher I'd be lost without my Sky dish so I'm not going to launch into a big tirade against the god of TV. But in all aspects of life I'm happy to have a pop at those who display no common sense at all and this seems like another opportunity for me to do so.

 I've no idea how the powers that be expect English sides to compete effectively in Europe if they don't help them out with fixture timings and give them decent preparation times, especially for away games, and even more so if the game is on the other side of the continent. Let's get something straight, I'm in no way suggesting the fixtures should be arranged to benefit any side's domestic campaign, purely to aid them in Europe.

Man Utd are playing at 4pm today and they have a (hopefully) tough game away at Real Madrid on Wednesday, which is certainly much closer than our trip to St Petersberg but you know there's no way Real will have been playing today, giving them more preparation and rest time for the midweek game.

 It's so obvious that the fixtures chosen for TV by Sky for this weekend should have been played in a different order. Man Utd V Everton Saturday lunchtime, Spurs V Newcastle and Liverpool V West Brom on Sunday, Villa V West Ham Monday night. Same fixtures, same TV audience, more time for the sides involved in Europe to get ready for their games, easy. I honestly can't understand why this isn't what happened.

 Looking at our games I think our squad is looking more healthy than it has been and we can hopefully deal with two games in quick succession and the travelling involved, but a bit of help here and there wouldn't go amiss. Monday could be Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carra, Enrique, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Sturridge, Suarez, Downing. Thursday can be Jones, Wisdom, Coates, Skrtel, Robinson, Allen, Shelvey, Suso, Borini, Sterling, Assaidi. Two completely different XI's but I wouldn't fancy the second lot to win away at Zenit.

 But if the Premier League are going to give us the Monday night kick off so close to a big Europa League tie then there's not much we can do about it. Though I completely understand how some managers regard qualifying for the Europa League to be a punishment rather than a reward for a season's hard graft.