Christophe Daum pulled off the biggest surprise of the early silly season, by quitting Cologne to return to Turkey via Fenerbahce. I would love to hear Jan’s input on this, but my take is that it could be a sucker punch for the Billy Goats as they face the sophomore curse. Daum had a somewhat iconic air at Colgne. He had helped built a solid team that needed some tweaks to reestablish the club as a permanent fixture in the top flight. Will the players, that he helped bring in, stay around for a new manager? They have a lot of talent that could be picked off with young guns Pezonni, Geromel, and Brosinksi. And the news caught favored son Lukas Podolski by surprise, and an already unhappy Podolski is going to make life tough for any new manager. Currently Slomka and Skibbe are being bandied about as possible replacements.

Ze Roberto has left Bayern after they wouldn’t give him a two-year contract. He seems to think he’s going to Manchester City. I seem to think he’s going to the MLS.

Bayern’s attempts to bring in a keeper are hitting a major road block. Manuel Neuer has said no. Being a Schalke man to the bone, that wasn’t a shock. And Bayer 04 may have set too high a price on Rene Adler for the Bavarians.

Demba Ba is making noises about leaving Hoffenheim and seems hell bent on replacing Mario Gomez at Stuttgart.

Robert Lewandowski of Lech Pozna? could be on his way to Dortmund. Does he bolster the squad or replace wantaway Alexandre Frei?

Wolfsburg made their first signing of the season with Dane Thomas Kahlenberg from Auxerre. There are suggestions that they may be after Luca Toni to be the next signing.

Werder seems to be employing a “if you can’t beat them” philosophy. They have already signed Marcelo Moreno of Shaktar on a loan to buy deal. Meanwhile they seem to be seeking two other players from the UEFA Champs in Darijo Srna and Jadson