O’NEILL WITH LOTS OF PONDER AFTER DRAW Lou Macari

Talking football with a genuine Stoke City legend

Premier League are instantly tipped to mount a promotion challenge the following season.

It doesn’t always work out like that. Just ask Stoke.

This international break will give O’neill the chance to find a way to get some consistent league form under their belts - it might work in his favour.

Someone else who might be pleased there is an international break is Manchester united manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

United were thumped 6-1 at home by Tottenham at the weekend - and losing by that margin at Old Trafford is unheard of.

When Ole took over I thought we started to see signs of a new United, but against Spurs they went back to displaying the same old problems he inherited. He needs to find some magic.

There was a lack of fight, which is the basic requirement from any side. In a normal week, the current trend is to let players have a day or two off to clear their heads after such a result.

I can tell you that if managers from yesteryear, like Sir Alex Ferguson, were in charge, the players wouldn’t have been called in for training the next day.... they would have been training that night!

United’s margin of defeat wasn’t the only surprise at the weekend. We also saw Liverpool tonked 7-2 at Villa.

There have been some shocks in the top flight already this season, and there’s some new names leading the charge.

Everton are top and Villa are perched in unfamiliar territory after their flying start.

When Leicester City won the league a few years ago, I said we wouldn’t see something like that happen again. And I still believe that.

Over the course of the season, the usual suspects will find their way to the top four positions.

The one team who could break in to that group, though, are Everton.

We have dismissed them for the past couple of years because they’ve been so poor, but Carlo Ancelotti has revived them.

They are playing some terrific football and although I don’t think they will finish top, they could challenge for a top-three spot.

Lastly this week, the transfer window is now closed - thanks goodness.

We’ve seen some mad deals with Sheffield United paying £23m for Rhian Brewster from Liverpool and Everton shelling out £25m for Ben Godfrey from Norwich.

Those figures make your eyes water. Personally, I prefer the game without a transfer window. It means you can deal with long-term injuries or other absences when they arise, rather than scrambling around on one day.

United signed Edison Cavani on deadline day. He’s been available since June, so why wait until a day in October to finally sign him? I don’t get it.