HATCHET MAN: Freddie's Hammers exit is expensive pants; Spurs have had another good pre-season but Ramos is no magician; United boss Ferguson is hardly the face of Respect

The £13million he will have cost West Ham when he is paid off for a thoroughly uninspiring year must surely have stained his reputation permanently.

Hatchet Man cannot believe any club who take themselves seriously would pay good money for the lazy, money-grabbing Swede.

Ljungberg put in more effort in the three games he played for Sweden at the European Championship finals than he did in five times as many appearances for his club.

Pants performance: Freddie Ljungberg has been a flop at West Ham

Another day, another short-term club owner looks for an exit strategy. The Premier League is fast becoming an unstable stopping spot for fly-by-night millionaires where the only people who stick around are the fans.

Thaksin Shinawatra, who only came to Manchester City with his dodgy human rights record and trail of corruption allegations last year, is already considering selling.

Thaksin: won't be missed

Good, the game would be better off without him. Hatchet Man will shed no tears either for Mike Ashley if he finds a buyer for Newcastle after making out he was about to bring back the good times to St James' Park last summer.

But what does it say about the Premier League if owners are ready to bail after such a short time?

The short-termism leaves the suspicion they are either making a fast buck or the costs and rewards are not what they expected while clubs' traditions and long-term futures are being put at risk.

City experts reckon about half the league are always available at the right price and Everton have admitted they are on the lookout for new money.

West Brom too, although when they invited investment interest there was not a single offer. Go on, at least pretend you are surprised.

Liverpool, Tottenham and Fulham have also recently been linked with takeovers. If it keeps going like this owners will have shelf-lives almost as short as managers.

Tottenham fans are going into the new season more exuberant than ever, tipped yet again by all and sundry to finally claim a place near the top of the table.

Fair enough, Spurs have bought some good players and it is not hard to see why they are excited. But do they ever get things in proportion at White Hart Lane? No chance.

Tottenham have already lost one of their best players in Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov is set to follow.

Manager Juande Ramos wants more new signings on top of the handful he has already brought in and his chances of making them gel and click are very slim.

The Spaniard may be able to make the players' ketchup and Jaffa Cakes disappear, but he is no magician.

Tottenham have had a good pre-season but they did last year too and look what happened to them then. Hatchet Man's is betting it happens again.

High expectations: Spurs have got their hopes up for this season, as hinted at in this subtle mock-up of a Tottenham shirt from Ave-it.net

Lord Triesman was shaping up to be good for the game.

The FA chairman may be power hungry but he has hit the right tone and spoken out regularly, quite the opposite to his effectively mute and invisible predecessor Geoff Thompson.

Yet he has lost it if he thinks he is going to be able to rein in Sir Alex Ferguson with the latest Respect programme.

Claiming he is going to stop the Manchester United manager from criticising referees will come back to haunt him.

The Scot can't help himself. It his attempt to gain an extra edge for his team and no-one will stop him standing up for them, particularly when he knows he will get away with it.

The FA have always run scared from punishing Fergie in the past and even with a new set of directives, there is no reason to believe they are suddenly going to become brave now.

Peter Kenyon has finally been put in his place publicly by someone at Chelsea - and not before time.

Big Phil broke with a Blues trend and talked sense, making the chief executive's plans to make the club the biggest in the world by 2014 look like the arrogant nonsense it always was.

The new manager said it could take up to 50 years for Chelsea to achieve the same international status as Manchester United and Barcelona and you don't have to be a marketing guru to see know that he is right.

A few more slap downs like that for Kenyon though - accidental or otherwise - and the club everyone loves to hate may find they lose a few of their enemies.

Gary Neville is set to become a dad. Hatchet Man wishes him all the best, but hopes his first-born takes after mum-to-be Emma in the looks department.