Palace search continues as week 2 ends

The games came up quickly on us over the weekend with much of the news centred last week on off field activities, and that will continue this week with the transfer window now having less than a week to run.

However, the big news last week came from Selhurst Park as one potential manager after another came and went with the South London club searching for a replacement after Tony Pulis left on the eve of the first games.

Incredibly, having just looked a the odds on Sky Bet, Pulis is still fifth favourite for the job. That's not going to happen but is the current clear favourite set for a return. Neil Warnock's odds have continued to shorten and he's now 11/10 for the job.

Sean Dyche, and former manager Eddie Howe for that matter, are both out at 50/1. Dyche was linked with Palace just before he joined Burnley while Howe turned both them and Charlton down just days before agreeing to become Burnley boss.

Tim Sherwood (currently 25/1) and Glenn Hoddle (50/1) have both said they are not available but interestingly Malky Mackay, who a week ago looked certain to be the new man, remains in the betting at 40/1.

I wouldn't dare suggest that Mackay has taken to text to try and get back in the running; it's a very unlikely scenario and I would think, given last week's revelations of the texting to and fro between him and Iain Moody, it might be some considerable time before a club takes a gamble on him.

Looking at the transfer window, clubs continue to spend, spend, spend, presumably so Sky can keep upping that running total to which we've made our own <strike)significant small contribution.

The stand out deal, for many reasons, is the one completed yesterday that has brought Mario Balotelli from Milan to England for a second time, this time from AC Milan to Liverpool.

Some say they've made a huge mistake, that Balotelli is a tosspot and will cause disruption. He's been brought in to replace a biting tosspot who, actually, didn't do too badly for them. I suspect the new man might not have the mentality required in our dressing room so, perhaps, we should be relieved that he's gone elsewhere.

On the field it was Spurs who had the biggest win of the weekend. They destroyed QPR on 'Arry's return to White Hart Lane. That result has seen them drop to the bottom of the league with a goal difference that is two worse than ours and that of Palace.

It's also ensured Spurs are top for now, just one goal better than both Chelsea and Manchester City.

I have to say it was good being on Match of the Day again this week, and how brilliant it was to hear the voice of Barry Davies again, and accompanied with the old graphics long gone from the BBC coverage of football. Maybe they could have gone the whole way and dispensed with the pundits for the day - that would have been an improvement.

We brought week one to an end with our home game against Chelsea. This week we kick off week three with BT Sport making a Turf Moor debut for our home game against Manchester United.

Will they have Angel Di Maria in their squad by then? Will we have any new signings in our squad? Times running out for that. It could be a busy night next Monday.

Week two results and stats are below with the Premier League's leading goalscorers, although no one has scored more than two goals yet. There's also each club's disciplinary records  with all clubs having now picked up cards of one colour or another.

There's really no point in listing the top ten and bottom ten attendances in this league. By half way through the season it will be all Manchester United in one column and, provided we don't let ours slip too much, it will be all QPR in  the other.

Finally the week 3 fixtures, the last before the season's first international break.