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West Ham United defender James Collins says he is delighted with the start the Hammer’s defence has made to the season, according to the club’s official website.

Collins rejoined West Ham for an undisclosed fee from Aston Villa and has been part of a Hammers defence that has only conceded in one Premier League game so far this season.

The Welshman is pleased with his side’s start to the campaign, “The manager has said to us about the importance of keeping clean sheets, because it always gives you a chance of winning any game. We have been working on that and apart from the match at Swansea, we have been on target.”

West Ham kept their third clean sheet of the season in a goalless draw at Norwich on Saturday, and the 29-year-old admits it is a game that could have gone either way, “Against Norwich we had chances, so did they and people watching will probably wonder how it stayed 0-0. There were lots of opportunities for us both, but no one could stick the ball in the back of the net, so I suppose you could say a draw was a fair result. For us it was another clean sheet and a point to take home.”

One of the talking points of the game was referee Chris Foy’s decision to award Norwich a free-kick right on the edge of the box instead of a penalty. Collins believes that a lot of credit must be given to Foy, “I was pretty confident it was outside the area but fair play to the referee, he made a great decision. We saw it again and the ref said before making a decision he looked at where the marks were on the pitch, from me sliding in to make the tackle. They were outside the box, so he made the right decision.”

West Ham’s return to the Premier League began with a 1-0 victory at home to Aston Villa. However, the Hammers were brought back down to earth in their first away game of the campaign losing 3-0 at Swansea. Collins admits that he and Winston Reid have learned a lot since that game, “We were bitterly disappointed that day in Swansea, me personally as well. Individual mistakes cost us but since then we have been spot on and long may it continue.”

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Collins was also full of praise for West Ham’s newly acquired goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, “Jussi has made some great saves. He is right up there with the best keepers I have played with, he talks well on the pitch and in the dressing room. He has played longer in the Premier League for longer than I can remember now. His experience meant that for some of the shots, he already knew which way they were going to go and that is great for helping us boys in front of him.”

Collins will be hoping that he and Reid can keep another clean sheet when they entertain a Sunderland side who also have one of the best defensive records in the Premier League this season. West Ham will continue to be without Andy Carroll as the striker picked up a hamstring injury in the victory over Fulham at the beginning of the month.

Former Burnley striker Charlie Austin has been in excellent form so far this season for Queens Park Rangers, scoring eight goals to take him up to third in the Premier League’s scoring chart.

The importance of having a goalscorer when you are struggling at the wrong end of the table is hugely significant. However, QPR cannot afford to rely solely on the 25-year-old’s ability to find the back of the net. Harry Redknapp will have to adjust his side when QPR play Everton away from home due to the fact that Austin was sent off against Burnley. The manager has an alarming shortage of attackers if he loses Austin to injury, as Bobby Zamora and Eduardo Vargas are the only recognisable forwards remaining.

Austin has been pivotal in gaining points for QPR this season, his eight goals mean that he has contributed half of the overall amount of Premier League goals scored by the entire QPR team. Although Austin is finding the back of the net, the biggest problems for Harry Redknapp lie in defence. They have conceded the most amount of goals in the Premier League so far this campaign. An ageing defence that consists of players such as Rio Ferdinand (36) and Richard Dunne (35) is not enough to keep QPR defensively sound this season. Also, Steven Caulker has not lived up to expectations since arriving at Loftus Road from Cardiff City and Harry Redknapp will be desperate to see more from a defender he paid £7m for in the summer.

The real problem for QPR is on the road this season. An ‘elderly’ starting XI can work effectively on the more compact pitch at Loftus Road, however, they are soon found out when they are stretched by the opposition. In seven away games so far, QPR have only managed to find the net twice. They are still waiting for their first point away from home, meaning that they have the worst away record in the Premier League. These are alarming statistics considering the amount of goals Charlie Austin has been scoring to help the side. In fact, Austin remains the only player to actually score for QPR on the road this season. If anything happens to the young English striker, the R’s will find it very difficult to reach the fabled 40-point mark at the end of the campaign. Talk of veteran striker Robbie Keane joining the club in January will hardly get QPR fans’ pulses racing but at least it shows that Redknapp is aware of his lack of squad depth, especially in the attacking areas. A key transfer could be Jermain Defoe, who looked odds on to join QPR in the winter window. However, if he decides to join Leicester City, it could become a major blow to Redknapp’s side with the Foxes another team who are also fighting for their lives.

Another alarming problem for QPR is the player’s lack of motivation. Make no mistake about it; Redknapp is a fantastic man manager, who is famous for getting the best out of his players. Therefore, it seems strange that not all of the squad was entirely fit for the first few fixtures of the season. The issue the manager has had with Adel Taarabt seems to sum up the motivational problems behind Redknapp’s crop of players. Although the squad will have shining lights such as Charlie Austin, his goals may not save an ageing QPR side that look destined for a relegation battle this season.

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With a few months still to go, the managerial merry-go-round in the Premier League has already produced eight changes so far this season.

With the financial rewards for playing in the top flight now more lucrative than ever,  job security for Premier League managers is almost non-existent as chairmen and owners look to any quick fix to maintain their club’s position amongst the riches of the division.

Irrespective of whether they succeed in the long term, it is an accepted notion that new managers traditionally rejuvenate a club’s fortunes in their first few months in charge.

However, so far this season, the “hire and fire” culture has not produced the immediate results that the chairmen and owners would have wanted.

Paolo Di Canio was the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season, having evidently lost control of the dressing room. Replaced by Gus Poyet, the Uruguayan has guided the club to the Capital One Cup Final and two derby victories over fierce rivals Newcastle United.

But even with the managerial change, the threat of relegation has not disappeared. Although they have games in hands on many of their rivals, the Wearsiders currently occupy 19th spot as the season draws ever closer to its conclusion.

Martin Jol was sacked by Fulham after only accumulating ten points from the first thirteen fixtures. Remarkably enough, his successor Rene Meulensteen has also been removed from the managerial hot seat after the change only brought about the club a further four victories from seventeen matches.

Felix Magath is the current incumbent at Craven Cottage but even he has so far struggled to rejuvenate the club’s fortunes, with a draw and two defeats coming in his first three games. Fulham chairman Shahid Khan’s desperation for a quick fix is evident but has failed to produce the desired effect with the Cottagers looking certainties for the drop.

Having led West Bromwich Albion to an impressive eighth place finish last season, many were surprised by Steve Clarke’s sacking. But only three victories in the club’s opening sixteen fixtures led the club’s board to make the change.

It is a decision that they are likely regretting now. Former Real Betis coach Pepe Mel is yet to win a match in seven attempts since taking charge of the Baggies. Level on points with eighteenth placed Cardiff City, the threat of relegation is very real at the Hawthorns and speculation has mounted that the club could soon look to make another managerial change in a desperate attempt to avert their decline.

Another sacking that surprised many was Swansea City’s decision to dispense of the services of Michael Laudrup. Having led the the club to Capital One Cup glory and the Europa League in the previous campaign, the legendary Dane was sacked after a run of just one win in ten.

Replaced by former player Garry Monk, the managerial novice won the all important derby fixture against Cardiff in his opening match. However, that is his only success to date and the Swans continue to look nervously over their shoulders as they sit just four points above the relegation zone.

At the other end of the table, Daniel Levy sacked Andre Vilas-Boas in December after Tottenham suffered 5-0 and 6-0 humblings at the hands of Liverpool and Manchester City. After a massive summer overhaul, Levy was evidently not impressed by the manager’s start of eight victories in the first sixteen and turned to Tim Sherwood to deliver the goal of Champions League football.

However, after an impressive start, Spurs’ challenge to the top four has faded away in recent weeks and Sherwood is beginning to show the strain after publicly criticising his players in the wake of the recent 4-0 defeat to Chelsea. The odds on the Englishman being in charge at White Hart Lane next season are not good, with Louis Van Gaal being openly touted as the man that will lead the club next season.

As these examples have demonstrated, the short term outlook of these particular Premier League chairmen and owners have so far not paid dividends for their clubs.

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Football fans on Twitter and figures in the media have repeatedly expressed their dismay at the number of sackings this season. Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has even gone so far as to argue that a points deduction should be introduced to curb the escalating number of managerial changes.

Of course in most of the cases, if relegation is avoided at the end of the season then the respective chairman or owner will consider their actions justified. With the money on offer for simply retaining a spot in the country’s top division, there seems to be no real place for long-term planning at many of the clubs in the division.

However, if these sackings in the Premier League has shown us anything this season, perhaps it is time for these chairman and owners to resist the quick fixes and look to achieve success through managerial stability.

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After losing 5-0 in their last game you would expect everyone at Ipswich to be a bit down in the dumps. It doesn’t look like Mick McCarthy allowed his team any time to get down about the result though and the Burnley win was pleasing for a number of reasons.

First of all, it was great to see Carlos Edwards back in midfield. In my eyes he has never been a defender and never will be, his place should always be on the right side of midfield. When Paul Jewell used him at right back he worked hard and did the best he could but the former Wigan boss was clearly not getting the best out of him in that position.

McCarthy obviously felt the same and made full use of Edwards on the right wing. The decision paid off too as the Trinidad and Tobago man set up the late winning goal for DJ Campbell.

Obviously by moving Edwards further up field McCarthy had to rearrange the Ipswich defence. Luke Chambers moved to right back, Tommy Smith was recalled at centre back, leaving Danny Higginbotham to partner him with Aaron Cresswell retaining his place at left back.

In ways this defensive line-up was a gamble but it was one that the Ipswich manager had to take. Against Palace the Tractor Boys defenders were all over the place so something needed changing and in fairness they could not really get any worse after that game.

However, the main change was of course in the team’s mentality. It is something that myself and many other fans had pin pointed as a factor that needed to be worked on if we wanted to stay up. The tell-tail sign of a team destined for relegation is one that crumbles after conceding one goal and that was happening to Ipswich all to often in previous weeks.

After Burnley equalised I think every Ipswich fan inside Portman Road must have thought it was going to be one of those typical performances where the team fall apart in the later stages of the game. What actually happened was the complete opposite as the team remained upbeat and eventually found the winner.

That was what made the victory so important for the home fans. Not only was it the teams first home win in many months but it signaled that there may be hope for Ipswich in dark times. It showed that the players can shake off the negative mentality that they had before. We may see it return every now and again but for the most part we will see the team playing with a much better attitude than before.

Finally I thought I would take some time to discuss the situation surrounding the winning goal scorer, which was on loan striker DJ Campbell. It is a scenario that a lot of teams find themselves in when they take a player out on loan. If the player does well, chances are his club will want him back and if he does badly nobody wants him. There is no doubt that Campbell is doing well and I am afraid to say he is doing too well.

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His goalscoring form will have caught the eye of his parent club who will now be relishing the opportunity to have him back very soon. QPR have only scored eight goals this season, have yet to win and sit bottom of the Premier League table with just four points from 11 games.

Given Campbell’s current form he could walk into QPR’s starting line up and I can’t imagine he would turn that down to play for Ipswich. Either he needs to stop playing so well or QPR’s other strikers need to start scoring. Fingers crossed we will keep him but it saddens me to say that we probably won’t.

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If last night’s 3-0 hammering at home to Bayern Munich spelt the end of Barcelona’s ‘cycle,’ as Sky Sports’ Gary Neville has likened it to in recent weeks, then the end of the Catalan side’s time at the top of the game was one of the most brutal imaginable.

Be it the 4-0 masterclass that Fabio Capello’s Milan side handed out to Barcelona in Athens back in 1994, or the men from the Camp Nou’s deadly ‘carousel’ that humiliated Manchester United over two Champions League finals, the Spanish club know better than anyone that the changing of the guard in European football very rarely tends to be anything short of explosive.

Yet even when held up against some of the more comprehensive beatings we’ve witnessed in recent European competition, there’s felt something particularly illuminating about the nature in which Bayern Munich deconstructed Tito Vilanova’s side a staggering 7-0 over the course of two legs.

Brutally efficient, unrelenting in their supremacy and seemingly able to rubber stamp their performances with a sprinkling of stardust, for all the talk of German efficiency and physical domination, there was something very Catalan about the way in which Jupp Heynckes’ side took Barcelona apart last night; maybe not so much in the mechanics of their play, rather in the way they went about the task in hand.

And after all but confirming what felt like something of a formality – bar a very nervous last five minutes in Madrid for Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund side on Tuesday night – we now look ahead to the first all-German Champions League final in Wembley on the 25th.

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For some on these shores of course, once the initial nationalistic pain of seeing two teams from the old foe battle it out upon English soil for Europe’s biggest prize subside, there is a far bigger insecurity to crop up out of the Bundesliga’s recent journey to continental domination. What’s happened to our own set of once-valiant sides in the Champions League?

After a campaign which saw only two English teams make the competition’s round of 16 and not a single entrant reach the quarter finals, many have been quick to write English football’s obituary within the Champions League.

Out of touch, behind the times and somewhat archaic in comparison to our esteemed neighbours on the continent – the column inches haven’t been particularly kind to Premier League teams in recent weeks. And on a superficial basis at least, while you must look beyond Fleet Street’s usual hyperbole to understand the point being made, it has of course been incredibly hard to argue with some of those points this season.

The simple reality has been that in comparison to the cream of Europe this season, English clubs simply haven’t been able to hold a torch to the real, elite performers when they’ve been at the top of the game and given our own domestic top-flight’s penchant for self-promotion, that doesn’t reflect very well at all.

Given the trade off we seem to have unwillingly made between the desperately poor fortunes of our national team in exchange for a scintillatingly brilliant domestic competition, when the wheels fall off the latter, such post-mortems generally tend to feel a lot more painful than they do in either Spain or Germany. But just because they’ve fallen off, it doesn’t mean they can’t be put back on again.

Neville’s recent sentiments about cycles within football and a natural lifespan for success and domination within the European game seem to have been taken at face value by many, but for as simple an observation as it may seem, perhaps it’s time we started buying into the concept that nothing lasts forever – be it success aswell as a lack of it.

Let’s rewind four years to the Champions League knockout stages of 2008: English football is arguably enjoying its most prominent zenith of modern times, with all four of its entrants into the elite European competition making the quarter finals. Three of those teams in Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool went on to make the semi-finals with the latter pair going on to compete for the trophy in the final in Moscow.

It was a year of blanket domination, albeit peppered by the beginnings of the Barcelona uprising. But if English football was experiencing its all-conquering high, then German football was most certainly at its nadir.

FC Schalke were the only German club to scrape through the group stages during a chastising campaign for the country’s clubs in Europe. Indeed, it was a year in which this season’s finalists didn’t even qualify for the competition.

Five years on however and the German footballing landscape has come an awful long way on since those dark days of five years ago, going on to not only dominate this season’s competition, but also sweep away a Barcelona dynasty so vaunted, it was difficult to see how their success was ever likely to be halted at one point this season.

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Yet when you strip away the hyperbole, the headlines and the romanticism from the event, all we’re seeing is simply the end of one side’s domination and the start of another’s.

Premier League clubs have suffered a torrid year in the Champions League this season, compounded in no small part thanks to the futile performance produced by the benchmarkers in previous league champions Manchester City.

But although the road to redemption is one that tends to take several seasons, rather than several months, English clubs will be back.

Quite whether the lack of patience that exists within these shores will cater for that wait, however, is quite another story indeed.

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Arsene Wenger is reportedly ready to trigger Demba Ba’s buy-out clause in a bid to prize him away from Newcastle in January, the Sun reports.

The Senegalese striker has a £7.5million clause in his Newcastle contract, allowing him to leave to anybody who matches that fee. It was expected that clubs would come in for him last summer but it seems Wenger is ready to take the plunge and bring the striker to the Emirates in the winter transfer window.

Ba, 27, is however said to be keen to stay at St James Park:

“Demba wants to be paid what he thinks he deserves but remains committed to the club. He loves it at Newcastle and wants it to be sorted out as soon as possible.” Said a source close to the player.

After the sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United in the summer, the Gunners have struggled to find a regular goal scorer to take his place. New signings Lukas Podolski and in particular Oliver Giroud, despite flashes of what they can do have struggled to find any consistent form since moving to England.

Ba in comparison is currently joint top of the Premier League scoring charts with 10 goals and Wenger is reportedly ready to offer him £60,000 a week in wages plus add ons to bring him to the club.

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Although Arsenal look to be picking up form despite their defensive problems, Arsene Wenger will still need to reinforce his squad with a few additional players to move up the table in the Premier League.

The Gunners will be looking to add to their very limited back line, especially in the centre-back role, with their shortage in this department well documented every since the injury to Laurent Koscielny.

With the January window coming up, here are FIVE Bundesliga stars the club should definitely look to signing during the January window:

Julian Draxler

Name: Julian Draxler

Age: 21

Position: Left Winger

Nationality: Germany

Club: Schalke 04

Price: £30 – £35 million

Julian Draxler has long been on Arsenal’s shopping list, and with the January window coming up, Arsene Wenger may finally decide to sign him before a number of interested parties snap him up first. At 21, it would appear to be the perfect time for him to make a move in search for a new challenge.

The German winger has made eight Bundesliga appearances so far this season, scoring two goals and providing a single assist. He could easily fit into the swift playing style of the club and would surely provide some friendly competition for places on the left flank.

Mats Hummels

Name: Mats Hummels

Age: 25

Position: Centre Back

Nationality: Germany

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Price: £25 – £30 million

Mats Hummels seems to have made his way into the shopping list of almost every big Premier League team with Arsenal amongst them. His exploits at the World Cup for Germany seems to have added even more fuel into the fire with a host of clubs preparing an offer to sign him.

Along with the Gunners, Manchester United have declared their desire to sign the Borussia Dortmund centre-back on more than one occasion. With Jurgen Klopp’s side not doing too well this season, Hummels may be keen in switching to a side that can offer him something more.

Christoph Kramer

Name: Christoph Kramer

Age: 23

Position: Defensive Midfield

Nationality: Germany

Club: Bayer Leverkusen (on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach)

Price: £10 – £15 million

Currently on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach, Christoph Kramer is the sort of defensive midfielder Arsene Wenger will be looking for to slot right in front of his back line. He has been lining up a player who can fill this role for quite a while, and after Kramer’s victory in Brazil with Germany, the Gunners may consider making a move this January.

He has made 13 appearances so far this season, scoring once, and is currently a key figure in the midfield for his club which now sit fourth in the Bundesliga.

Benedikt Howedes

Name: Benedikt Howedes

Age: 26

Position: Centre-back

Nationality: Germany

Club: Schalke 04

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Price: £15 million

With Arsenal suffering a host of defensive injuries ever since the start of the new campaign, Arsene Wenger is struggling to cope with the lack of experienced centre-backs available for selection. He currently has Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as his two central defenders, often calling on Calum Chambers or even Nacho Monreal to fill the hole in that role.

Koscielny’s struggles with fitness this season would make the signing Benedikt Howedes seem like a very shrewd move. Currently the skipper for Schalke 04, Wenger may need to do a lot of convincing in order to see one of his transfer targets accept a move. He has now made 11 Bundesliga appearances this season, even managing to grab a goal in the process.

Lars Bender

Name: Lars Bender

Age: 25

Position: Defensive Midfield

Nationality: Germany

Club: Bayer Leverkusen

Price: £18 – £23 million

Another possible defensive midfield target for Arsene Wenger is Lars Bender, a player who is more than capable of commanding the area between midfield and defence. He is a strong figure in the centre of the park for Bayer Leverkusen and the Gunners have already had a summer bid rejected.

Bender has featured in 12 Bundesliga matches so far and has helped his team maintain their third place slot in the league, six points behind second place Wolfsburg and nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

Everton have completed the signing of former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o, who penned a two-year contract.The Cameroon international joined the Toffees on a free transfer after his one-year contract with Chelsea ended during the summer.And Everton manager Roberto Martinez was pleased with his new capture, who won three Champions League medals along with a host of league titles for some of Europe’s top clubs.WANT MORE>>ÂEvertonÂTransfer TargetÂ|ÂLatestÂTransfer News”I met him and we had a very good chat about football in general and I was impressed about the hunger he still has,†he said on Everton’s official website.”For someone who has achieved nearly everything, he still has the desire he had at 15 when he went to Spain and showed what he could do. For many reasons he has got a point to prove.”We are very excited and I think Everton is the perfect home for him. The fans will make him ready and feel sharp but we have got to be a bit patient with the fitness levels and make sure he is back to his best.”Eto’o was also delighted to be playing at Goodison Park, stating: “I am very happy to be here, I am looking forward greatly to putting on the Blue shirt of Everton.”I have been very impressed by the style of play Everton adopt. I could see straight away that at this club I will have the opportunity to play football. I had the chance to speak with the manager over the last few days and we agreed that this was what we would do.”I was impressed with his enthusiasm but also by the knowledge of football that Roberto Martinez carries, his vision of football and how he reads football. I still think I can learn a great deal from him here.”

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Liverpool forward Dani Pacheco looks set to end his spell at the club after he revealed he would not be travelling on the Anfield club’s pre-season tour of Asia and Australia, according to talkSPORT.

The Spaniard tweeted: “Finally not travelling to Asia. Will talk about my future in the next couple of days. Thank you.”

The news looks as if it will end what has turned out to be a disappointing few years on Merseyside after he was signed by Rafa Benitez from Barcelona in 2007. There were high hopes for the man from Pizarra after a sequence of very impressive games for the club’s reserve side.

However, as happens much too often with some young players, he was sent out on loan time after time. Three times in four seasons to be precise which undoubtedly contributed to the stuttering nature of his career.

Brendan Rodgers did originally name Pacheco as one of 28 men due to travel to the pacific region and he did feature in Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Preston on Saturday. Yet it seems both parties know that it is unlikely Pacheco will be a Liverpool player come the start of the Premier League season.

Many sides in La Liga will feel like they can reinvigorate the talent that Pacheco possesses in abundance. A move back to his homeland is the most likely scenario but with many teams in Spain feeling the pinch of the country’s financial crisis, ironically the final year of Pacheco’s Liverpool contract may be out on loan once again.

Liverpool fans, are you sad to say goodbye to Pacheco?

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As reported by The Daily Mail, former Rangers star Steven Naismith has admitted he would be interested in returning to Ibrox before his playing days are done.

What’s the story?

Naismith left the club in 2012 in the midst of their financial meltdown, a move that didn’t exactly go down well with supporters at the time. However, it appears he’d be interested in attempting to make amends for that with a high profile switch back to Ibrox from Norwich City.

As quoted by The Daily Mail, the Scotland international said:

I still support Rangers and I want them to do well. Fortunately, when I come back to Scotland it’s not going to be about finances. It’ll be about what I think is the right fit for me. That’ll be the main thing. First of all, you need people at the clubs to want you and you need to see what options are available. A return to Rangers would appeal. I’ve spoken in the past about Kilmarnock and Rangers and being appreciative for what they did for me as a player. I would look at those clubs and see if they were options to start with.

Naismith, rated at £3.6m by Transfermarkt, has been out of action for most of this season due to an ankle injury, but is slowly returning to full fitness at Norwich City.

Given his apparent desire to return to Glasgow, should Rangers make a move to sign him in the January transfer window?

Still got it?

After leaving Rangers, Naismith proved to be a useful player at English Premier League level with Everton, playing a significant role at Goodison Park without ever becoming indispensable. Eventually he made the switch to Championship side Norwich City, where he got plenty of game time last season.

He undoubtedly still has what it takes to be a force in the Scottish Premiership and with injury hampering Kenny Miller’s season, there’s never been a better time for the club to add some veteran experience to their attack.

Naismith may not have the goal poaching instincts of Miller, but could provide leadership and ability to the final third at Ibrox, supporting the likes of Alfredo Morelos with hard work and creativity.

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If he’s open to the move, it’s something Rangers should pursue.