The Premier League 2010/11 Preview

For my English counterparts, I am sure, it has been a long summer. To begin, British hopes, having been slowly kindled into bonfire proportions, were snuffed out like a matchstick with,  barring France of course, one of the worst displays in World Cup history. And so, the arrival of the new Premiership season cannot come quickly enough.

Whether he stays with Villa or joins City, Milner will have tens of thousands of reasons to smile week in and week out.

It’s been a strange off season so far; Chelsea have decided to sell, sell, sell, whilst Man City buy, buy and almost buy (here’s looking at you, James Milner). Sir Alex Ferguson loudly proclaims that there is not much value in the transfer market, especially with the wealth of youthful resources at his disposal in Manchester.  Simultaneously on  Merseyside, Roy Hodgson says not much at all, preferring instead to do his talking with signings and tactics.

This campaign will also see the introduction of the new homegrown rule. Personally, I don’t think it will cause too much change to the top teams anyway; Arsenal sign all their players as soon as they are out of nappies, United golden generation from the ’90s  seem almost ageless and Liverpool are quietly going about their business of re-Anglicisation. Chelsea and Man City are probably the two teams that will find the requirements somewhat hindering, with both boasting squads with far more international diversity than good old home cooking.

At Liverpool, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Before I venture too far into impartiality, let me get something off my chest.  As usual, the internet is awash with village idiots, trumpeting the impossible dream.  Especially where it pertains to the Kop.  I’m sorry Merseysiders, but as much as I love them, Liverpool are not going to win the league.  Quite frankly, they will be lucky to regain their place in the top 4 amongst stiff competition from the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Man City. It will take a very good season, with a an injury free Torres in place and on form, if they are to regain their place. Of course, this doesn’t mean they are a bad side, just not a great one. Unfortunately for them, City have bought extremely well over the course of the summer and the likes of Chelsea and United are a long way from where the Scousers would like to be.

Right then, on to business.  When trying to make predictions on the course of the coming season, it’s actually pretty difficult to come up with any that can be made with conviction.

Chelsea and United will undoubtedly be up there, but each has many questions that need answering, as do their closest challengers. Will the loss of Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack effect Chelsea more than they expect?  Are the youngsters, in which Fergie is placing so much trust, ready to take some of the load off Wayne Rooney’s shoulders?  Will the millions City have spent finally bring them a team capable of challenging, or will another offseason of change again mean a lack of chemistry when it is needed most?  Can Marouane Chamakh provide the firepower that Arsenal have been so obviously craving, since the departure of Emmanuel Adebayor?  Are Tottenham capable of juggling European and domestic football? Will Liverpool finally find a back up striker capable of stepping in for Fernando Torres?  Have they already, judging by the pre-season form of David Ngog?

Phew! That is just the tip of the iceberg!  Just under the surface, are 14 other clubs with issues and ambitions of their own.

O'Neill is not likely to sit on the sideline as long as Mark Hughes.

In perhaps the biggest news of the summer so far, Martin O’Neill sensationally walked out on Aston Villa, further fuelling speculation that Randy Lerner will no longer be going overboard with his spending, but rather looking to recoup a bit and steady the ship, financially speaking. What will become of Aston Villa now that the Irishman has gone?

Everton, who would surely have been challenging for 4th place last year, if it weren’t for an injury crisis, at the start of the season, which rivaled the later one suffered by their Merseyside neighbours, will now truly fancy their chances of being in amongst the European places this season.

If you thought Blackpool's promotion was miraculous, you'll really be amazed if Holloway can keep them in the top flight.

At the other end of the table, my all time favourite manager, Ian Holloway, will be gracing the Premiership with his presence and will surely provide a very welcome alternative display of how a football manager should behave. Personally, I can’t wait to see his interviews on Match of the Day and Soccer Sunday.  I just hope that he can work some miracles and keep Blackpool up, although I very much doubt their chances. Already, it appears that they may have already accepted their fate, concentrating on their facilities with the money obtained from promotion, rather than filling the squad with overpaid rejects from a multitude of European teams, as is so often the case for the newly promoted sides.  Can you say Mido?

It looks like it’s shaping up to be a tough season for all the newly promoted sides. West Brom seem set to continue their yo yo routine, bouncing from the Premier League to the Championship and back.  Newcastle have not exactly inspired anyone with their summer transfer activity.

You can’t help feel that a few bad results for any of the promoted trio could result in heads going down or, in Toon’s case, fans getting on the players’ backs and forcing yet another manager on his way. Of the lower table Premier League teams, it is hard to pick anyone that looks particularly weak.

That’s also the case when trying to pick one that looks particularly strong.  The top 6 this season will most likely be made up of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man United and Tottenham. When it comes to picking the order, it gets a little more difficult. I’m going to go out on a limb though and say that I think that the enemy of my heart will win the title, finally putting Liverpool’s top-flight domination in the past. City will make it a Mancunian top two, with Chelsea firmly on their heels. Arsenal will make up the top 4, with Liverpool and Tottenham scrapping all season long over 5th place.

The final Europa league place will be a very interesting battle this season; Aston Villa, Everton, Birmingham and Stoke will be fighting it out all season long, whilst the likes of Fulham, Blackburn, Sunderland and Wolves will simply disappear into the nether region, otherwise known as the mid table.  I fancy Everton to snatch the final Europa league place though; they are a better-equipped squad, with more diversity and experience than the others.

At the wrong end of the table, this leaves Blackpool, Bolton, Newcastle, West Brom, West Ham and Wigan. I am sorry to say it, but the writing is on the wall for both Blackpool and West Brom.  There just isn’t enough about either of their squads to stay up and, unless they start spending a bit of money on the kind of players that belong in the Premier League, my opinion on that won’t change. The third relegation place will be an interesting battle between the other four teams and I am finding it very difficult to pick the other team for the drop. I think Newcastle, armed with scrappers like Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan in midfield, will have enough steel in their side to keep themselves afloat. I think I will stump for Wigan to go down this season, with apparent investment of the Davids at West Ham and the wonder man that is Owen Coyle at the Reebok trumping Dave Whelan and the extremely polite Roberto Martinez at the JJB.

Fergie may have signed himself a really sweet pea.

So what about the other awards? Top scorer will be Torres, as long as he can stay fit. If not, Rooney will continue where he left off, last season, firing United to the title. The usual suspects, such as Carlos Tevez and Didier Drogba will be there or thereabouts. United’s new signing, Javier Hernandez, will end up proving to be an astute bit of business and will be fighting it out for buy of the season with Joe Cole. David Silva has a lot of promise at City but, with that £25m price tag, he will have to be pretty sensational to satisfy the economically jaded Premier League fans. Somehow, I just can’t see him winning them over.

Were this award given on sheer personality, Ian Holloway would be named Manager of the Year in a cakewalk, but as results unfortunately factor in, it will more likely be Ferguson who picks it up, despite some very stern competition from fellow Scotsman, David Moyes. The first for the sack? Well, that depends, really. If the Magpies get off to a dreadful start, we could well see Chris Hughton paying the price. Of the other teams likely to struggle, none are led by executives who have a reputation for being particularly quick to fire their managers, so it could well be one of the mid table skippers axed, if his side underperforms out of the gate. Whoever takes the Aston Villa hotseat has some large shoes to fill; if  he trips up, a rattled Randy Lerner may be prone to a knee jerk reaction.

There is still a long way to go in the current transfer window and many things could change between now and 1 September. With the possibly imminent buyout of Liverpool, that may see them attempt a late raid, or two, of significant talent and the sale of Milner to Man City looking more and more a done deal, we could well see a transfer merry go round getting underway, as the other big clubs look to keep up with the Joneses.  There might only be a few days to go until the first matches of the season but it will be much longer before we know how all the preseason wrangling pans out!