Little Similarity

Burnleys first ever season in the Premiership has already began to show distinct familiarity.

A team struggling at the wrong end of the championship finds astonishing form to win promotion through the play-offs, before setting off at surprising pace in the Premiership. Last years Hull City is this years Burnley.

But, there are striking differences between the two sides that would indicate that Burnley are likely to be a far more steady proposition than the boom and bust of Hull Citys maiden Premiership campaign.

Simply, the two respective squads at the same stage indicate as much. During their rise up through the leagues, the majority of Hull Citys squad has been necessarily replaced and upgraded to try and continue that progress. The influx of players has served to invigorate the squad at each turn, but the transient nature of this process has an impact on long-term stability. The impact of Fraizer Campbell was immense, but his loss was equally harshly felt, with a wave of new signings to bridge the gap.

Contrast this with the steady development undertaken by Burnley. The current squad is littered with players who have spent almost their entire careers in the Championship. Many of those with Burnley. As a result, you sense the self-belief in their own ability as a team is stable. Players such as Graham Alexander, Robbie Blake, Brian Jensen and Steven Caldwell and necessarily long in the tooth to trust in their own abilities and those of their teammates.

It would seem unlikely that their form will blossom further and bring on light-hearted questions about their Champions League credentials. But equally, they are unlikely to collapse in mid-January and sink to the foot of the table.

Of course, none of this means that they will have the necessary quality to escape relegation. But there will never be any misapprehension that their aim is anything more than that.

Steady Progress

The last two years have seen a complete transformation in the fortunes of Stoke City. From midtable Championship Play-Off contenders, they now find themselves midtable in the division above. More importantly, their transfer activity seems to reflect their new-found status.

There have been several clubs who have attempted to establish themselves in the Premiership from the Championship wilderness in recent years. But few have gone about it with the level of belief that Stoke have displayed.

The January signings of Matthew Etherington and James Beattie were statements of intent from a club who felt entitled to bid for players with established premiership reputations. Particularly having discovered that their existing players, such as Ricardo Fuller and Liam Lawrence, had taken to the Premiership so comfortably themselves. That attitude has continued into the summer transfer window. Whilst the number of transfers has been a trickle rather than a deluge, this has more to do with a desire to aim at a high standard. The signing of Dean Whitehead is further indication of the requirement, and ability, to add premiership quality to their squad.

The biggest indication of Stoke new standing in the game, and the acceptance of that standing within the football world, is in the way their projected signings have been received. They have been heavily linked with signing good quality premiership players such as Dean Ashton, Danny Murphy and Benjani, signings which have generally been accepted by the football media to be serious offers with serious potential to be realised. By contrast, Hull City, promoted within weeks of Stoke themselves, have found a somewhat bemused reaction to their suggested transfer targets. Indeed, it has been seen as something of a success for Hull to finally land a player, one Seyi Olafenjani. A player deemed surplus to requirements by none other than Stoke City.

Whether the club are able to push on beyond what would appear to be a high watermark 12th place finish last season, remains to be seen. What is notable however is that nobody would be particularly surprised were they able to finish there again, a real barometer of how far and how well Stoke City have travelled.

Lack of Ambition or Measured Growth?

Befitting of the clubs approach through much of last season, Burnleys transfer activity has been quiet and fairly unnoticed. Which, as their promotion to the Premiership will testify, means that it should not be discounted.

However, on the face of it, the calibre of the signings evokes memories of previously promoted clubs who exceeded their own expectations and landed in the Premiership.

Whilst Owen Coyle speaks admirably of avoiding risking the clubs future, there is a conservatism about the signings. To date, the club have made five signings- Tyrone Mears, Steven Fletcher, Brian Easton, David Edgar and Richard Eckersley. The names themselves may not be familiar, but names were never something that Burnley were going to associate with retaining Premiership status. The problem is the lack of Premiership experience amongst the quintet. Mears is the only one who has ever played in the Premiership for any distinct period of time. Whilst Fletcher comes with a club record £3m transfer fee and a very solid reputation in scottish football, he remains an unknown quantity at this level.

There is a marked contrast with Stokes signings last season, which ultimately rewarded them with retained Premiership status. The majority of Stokes signings were modest enough to not appear to impose unnecessary burden on the clubs future. Yet, players such as Thomas Sorensen, Abdoulaye Faye, Dave Kitson and Danny Higginbottom came with Premiership reputations.

The signings have worrying precedents with Watfords failed Premiership campaign of 2006-07. Whilst pragmatism and future stability are aspects that any club in a similar position should adhere to, the signings appear to be those of a team with Championship play-off aspirations. To wit, exactly the kind of team Burnley would have aspired to this time last year. All of which suggests that Burnley are prepared to have a go at Premiership survival but are acknowledging that they have already come far further than they could have anticipated and are trying to ensure that, when they do fall back, they dont fall back quite as far.

Arsenals Positive Front

On the face of it, of the established "Big Four" (TM), Arsenal would appear to be the one which exudes stability, which is how this club of austerity and high-values would always wish to be perceived. The manager himself is the perfect figurehead to carry such an image.

Whilst Manchester United have suffered the ignominity of seeing two of their star forwards depart for sunnier, or more expensive, climates, Liverpools owners seek to sell off their jewels to fund re-financing and Chelsea find themselves left behind in their attempts to make that "marquee" signing, whilst batting away bids for their captain, Arsenal remain relatively untroubled by high-profile issues such as these.

Yet, beneath the surface, legs are thrashing in an attempt to maintain positive momentum. The signing of Thomas Vermaelen for "up to" £10m is a typically unassuming Arsene Wenger purchase that, based on previous judgement is likely to become another success. However, he is not the player that Arsenal fans crave. The search for a replacement for Matthieu Flamini continues, with the best option appearing to be the signing of... Matthieu Flamini.

That deal in particular is overshadowed by its connection to a deal which would see Emmanuel Adebayor leaving the Emirates. Whilst Adebayor had a dissapointing season, he still remains one of the few genuine forwards on Arsenals books, leaving Arsenal in an uncomfortable position. Without being able to find a replacement so far- a deal for Karim Benzema was always going to be beyond their reach- it would appear that they may be relunctanctly forced to retain an underperforming, but highly-paid, player. Indeed, the player himself seems to recognise that he is onto a good thing.

Whilst Adebayor remains on the books, it further exacerbates the seeming inability of the club to compete at the top end of the transfer market in the manner they would desire. Significant shareholder Alesher Usmanov has voiced his concerns that Arsenal need to embark on a "spending spree" in order to compete, funding such deals on the strength of a share issue.

Usmanovs comments drive to the heart of the biggest issue hovering over the club, the latent issue which is the clubs ownership. As Usmanov appears to grow restless, so Stan Kronke has gone about increasing his own shareholding. Whilst these two continue to harvest shares, the club itself is reticent to pass the club into single ownership and bring about the more public issues being encountered by both Liverpool and Manchester United.

All of which leaves the club in a status quo. Insufficient funds to bring in high-profile signings, unable to provide means to encourage sufficient funds. Once again, they appear to be reliant on Arsene Wengers ability as an alchemist, turning young prospects into superstars.

Yet, there is one other route that could be entertained to provide significant resources for investment. The sale of the clubs most highly-value asset, Cesc Fabregas. A bridge too far? Possibly. But it could yet prove impossible to ignore the size of bids being made in this transfer window.