The Return of the Football Season Part 4 - Premier league Preview

With the Olympics now over, the nation is struggling to come to terms with the fact that no more will we be enthralled by the rhythmic gymnastics or amazed by the Women's 10m air pistol..........................Yeah right, THE FOOTBALL SEASON IS BACK. Ten or so months of the most exhilarating, gripping sport the world has ever seen. To celebrate the new season I am previewing all 92 football league clubs chances for the 2012/2013 season. 

Premier League Champions 2011/2012

Team - Arsenal

Manager - Arsene Wenger

Finish Last Season - 3rd

Blame it on Eboue

Pre-season Activity - Its been a normal summer for the Gunners, sell your best player and replace him with players  that promise so much but fail to play to their potential. In all fairness I'm possibly being a little harsh to Professor Wenger, yes he has sold Robin Van Persie their best player and top scorer from last season to their rivals Manchester United. But the players they have brought in are quite good, Santi Cazorla has won the European Championship twice with Spain and has played for Villarreal in the Champions league. Lukas Poldolski has 101 caps for Germany scoring 44 goals in the process, both players are 27 and so are at the peak of their careers. The other signing is title winning Montpellier's top scorer Olivier Giroud, however the last title winning striker from France they signed was Marouane Chamakh. Pre-season has seen the Gunners lose to Manchester City and beat FC Koln.

Key Player - RVP....sorry I meant Cesc, no Samir Nasri...... wait I know Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright or Charlie Nicholas. Ok ok Emmanuel Eboue

My Prediction - 6th - You cannot sell your best player and expect to make the Champions League.

Team - Aston Villa

Manager - Paul

Finish Last Season - 16th

Paul Lambert

Pre-season Activity - Paul Lambert has cleverly dipped into the transfer market since his move from Norwich. Brett Holman, Karim El Ahmadi and Ron Vlaar have all joined from the Eredivisie. Lambert has also snapped up talented Sheffield United right back Matthew Lowton to replace the awful Alan Hutton. Lambert has also answered the prayers of all Villa fans by not offering Emile Heskey a new contract, the thought of him being deployed as a centre midfielder is just wrong. Pre-season saw Villa comeback from the US tour undefeated.

Key Player - If Stephen Ireland can recapture the form he had during Mark Hughes first season with Manchester City he can be a force for the Yam Yams this season. 

My Prediction - 11th - With Lambert at the helm mid table and a cup run beckons.

Team - Chelsea

Manager - Roberto Di Matteo

Finish Last Season - 6th

Eden Hazard

Pre-season Activity - Chelsea have spent 64million so far this summer and many of the fans are still adamant that they need a right back and another forward. So far they have brought in attacking trio Eden Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin all very talented but it will take time for them to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League. Leaving Stamford Bridge is Ivorian duo Salomon Kalou and the mercurial Didier Drogba who won everything possible with Chelsea and will go down as one of their greatest ever players. Out of five pre-season games Chelsea only won once and the went onto to lose the Community Shield to Manchester City 3-2. 

Key Player - Fernando Torres now will have an unlimited supply to him with the new signings and Euro 2012 top goalscorer needs to hit the ground running. 

My Prediction - 3rd - It will be tight up at the top, maybe all three clubs will go into the last game still with a chance of winning. Also lets not rule them out of defending their UCL trophy.

Team - Everton

Manager - David Moyes

Finish Last Season - 7th

Hibbert scores

Pre-season Activity - The story of pre-season for the Toffees is the return of Steven Pienaar and the arrival of Steven Naismith, both astute pieces of business from Moyes. Leaving Goodison Park is club legend Tim Cahill one of the best Premier league players of his era. As well as Cahill, young England international Jack Rodwell has joined Manchester City for a fee of 12 million pounds to mixed views from Evertonians. Some feeling another talented player has left the club and others saying his 14 appearances in two years is well worth the 12 million City payed for him. A 4-1 win over AEK Athens was the highlight of pre-season with Tony Hibbert scoring his first ever Everton goal.  

Key Player - Croatian Nikicia Jelavic adapted so well to the league last season and is the main goal threat for the blues.

My Prediction - 8th - A cup win is on the cards this year. 

Team - Fulham

Manager - Martin Jol

Finish Last Season - 9th

Mladen Petric

Pre-season Activity - Nervous times for Fulham fans await with clubs sniffing around their top players like Moussa Dembele, Clint Dempsey and Brede Hangeland. Andy Johnson, Danny Murphy and Pavel Pogrebnyak have left the London club, Martin Jol has replaced the players with German Sascha Riether, Wigan's Hugo Rodallega and Hamburg's Mladen Petric. However no fee has been played for these players and fans will be wanting owner Mohamed Al Fayed to start spending a bit of money before the transfer window ends. Pre-season saw Fulham record an impressive win over French side Nice 4-0.  

Key Player - 10.6 million pound signing Bryan Ruiz will need to do better than the 2 goals he got last season especially if Dempsey and Dembele go.

My Prediction - 13th - lower mid table as long as they spend a bit of money by the end of August.

Team - Liverpool

Manager - Brendan Rodgers

Finish Last Season - 8th

New boy Borini

Pre-season Activity - I think I speak for many when I say I'm glad Kenny has gone, yes he is a legend of British football but that doesn't give him the right to be a arrogant twat in interviews. Incoming is the smartly dressed, master tactician Brendan Rodgers thank God. Rodgers has brought in Fabio Borini, Joe Allen and Moroccan trickster Oussama Assaidi, he has also got rid of the deadwood from previous seasons Dirk Kuyt, Maxi, Fabio Aurelio and Alberto Aquilani. Liverpool's competitive season has already started and they beat FC Gomel 4-0 in a Europa league qulaifier. 

Key Player - Steven Gerrard will be the vital player in Rodgers system.

My Prediction - 4th/5th - I believe Rodgers is the man to get the Scousers back into the UCL but it won't be easy.

Team - Manchester City

Manager - Roberto Mancini

Finish Last Season - 1st

Yaya Toure

Pre-season Activity - Apart from Jack Rodwell no other transfer news to the annoyance of Mancini. Mancini is apparently furious with football administrator Brian Marwood for missing out on signing Robin Van Persie. City went on a five match winning streak during pre-season beating Besiktas, Arsenal and Wolfsburg along the way. They followed this up by beating Chelsea in the Community shield.  

Key Player - Yaya Toure is the heartbeat of the City side and has the uncanny knack of scoring very very important goals.

My Prediction - 2nd - But it could so easily be 1st, a lack of signings so far sees them 2nd.

Team - Manchester United

Manager - Sir Alex Ferguson

Finish Last Season - 2nd

Its ok to cry Gooners

Pre-season Activity - Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie together is every managers dream. They bring with them 57 goals and the RVP deal re-affirms Manchester United as one of if not the biggest club in world football. Other additions include highly rated Japanese star Shinji Kagawa from German champions Dortmund and Nick Powell from Crewe. Long serving midfielder Park Ji-Sung has left Old Trafford for QPR. United finished off pre-season by beating Hannover 96 4-3.

Key Player - Rooney/RVP - says it all

My Prediction - 1st - Sir Alex never likes losing especially in the manner they did last season.

Team - Newcastle United 

Manager - Alan Pardew

Finish Last Season - 5th

Gael Bigirimana

Pre-season Activity - The big signing so far for the Geordies is Vurnon Anita from Ajax, a utility player and at 6.7 million could be a good bit of business. Another signing is Coventry City wonderkid Gael Bigirimana, the boy from Burundi is very highly rated by Alan Pardew. Players such as Peter Lovenkrands and Alan Smith have moved on. Pre-season saw the the Magpies finish with an embarrassing loss to Cardiff City 4-1. 

Key Player - Both Cisse and Ba will be expected to continue their electric form from last season.

My Prediction - 7th - Newcastle have re-established themselves as one of the biggest clubs in England and I can see Europa League glory on the horizon. 

Team - Norwich City

Manager - Chris Hughton 

Finish Last Season - 12th

Snoddy

Pre-season Activity - Paul Lambert out and Chris Hughton in, crisis averted in other words. Hughton got to work straight away bringing in four new players; Rangers Steven Whitaker, Barnsley youngster Jacob Butterfield, Leeds Robert Snodgrass and Sunderland's big centre half Michael Turner. The main thing for Norwich fans was to keep hold of captain fantastic Grant Holt and he has agreed a new contract. As for pre-season the highlight came in a 1-1 draw with Dutch Champions Ajax. 

Key Player - Grant Holt was important last season another 10 or so goals will do nicely this season.

My Prediction - 14th - Avoiding second season syndrome is the aim for new boss Hughton.

Team - QPR

Manager - Mark Hughes

Finish Last Season - 17th

Park Ji Sung

Pre-season Activity - Mark Hughes had one thing to do this pre-season - Get rid of Joey Barton. Currently he has no squad number and is linked with a move to Marseille, so far so good. In other more important news Sparky has brought in a number of decent players which include Junior Hoilett, Ryan Nelsen, Park, Andy Johnson and Samba Diakite. Danny Gabbidon, Paddy Kenny and Akos Buzsaky have been released. Pre-season

Key Player - French striker Djibril Cisse either got sent off or scored last season, QPR fans will be hoping for more of the latter

My Prediction - 9th - mid-table success for the R's

Team - Reading

Manager - Brian McDermott

Finish Last Season - promoted from the Premier League

Pavel

Pre-season Activity - The big signing of the summer for Reading is the big Russian Pavel Pogrebnyak on a free transfer. Fulham were favourites to sign the forward having had him for the second half of last season , a spell in which he scored 6 goals in 12 games. However due to the influence of new owner Anton Zingarevich. McDermott was able to sign the Russia International. Other signings include Garath McCleary, former Royal Nicky Shorey and Danny Guthrie. Pre-season saw mixed results for the team with wins over AFC Wimbledon and Crystal Palace and a defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Key Player - 25 year old forward Adam Le Fondre had the knack of coming of the bench and bagging crucial goals for the Royals last season and his goalscoring ability with be vital this season.

My Prediction - 15th - They have a great spirit under McDermott and should have enough to stay up.

Team - Southampton

Manager - Nigel Adkins

Finish Last Season - promoted from the Premier League

Lambert

Pre-season Activity - A reported 7 million pounds was paid by Southampton for Burnley's Jay Rodriguez, they are also interested in Blackpool's Matt Phillips and Bologna's Gaston Ramirez. Other signings include Steven Davis from Rangers and Nathaniel Clyne from Crystal Palace. Pre-season has seen losses to Anderlecht, Ajax and 4-0 to Udinese. They have also drawn with Wolves and Arsenal. 

Key Player - Rickie Lambert is hoping to be this seasons Grant Holt, proven in every other division Lambert is big, powerful and deadly from range.

My Prediction - 20th - Big money has been spent on championship players and others such as Lambert, Sharp, Lallana and Guly Do Prado have yet to play in the top league. It will be a huge struggle this season. 

Team - Stoke City

Manager - Tony Pulis

Finish Last Season - 14th

Tony Pulis

Pre-season Activity - Unlike previous seasons where Tony Pulis has spent big, Stoke's spending has been rather futile. There has been three signings so far Jamie Ness on a free from Rangers, Wolves winger Michael Kightly joined for a reported 2 million and unknown American Geoff Cameron has joined for 2.5 million from MLS outfit Houston Dynamo. Its been the end of an era for some players this summer at the Britannia, the likes of Ricardo Fuller and Salif Diao have left the club. The Potters picked up two wins during pre-season against FC Sion and Orlando City.

Key Player - Peter Crouch is pivotal to Stoke's long ball game.

My Prediction - 19th - Without making significant additions to their squad this summer, I feel a lot of teams have sussed Stoke's tactics out . Also Rory Delap is now 36 the question is who much longer can he go on for.

Team - Sunderland

Manager - Martin O'Neill

Finish Last Season - 13th

Carlos Cuellar

Pre-season Activity - There has been two signings of note up at the Stadium of Light this summer. Spaniard Carlos Cuellar has joined from O'Neill's former club Aston Villa on a free and Frenchman Louis Saha has joined after being released by Spurs. The Mackems have been linked to a move for Wolves Steven Fletcher but have had a recent bid of 12 million turned down. Record signing Asamoah Gyan has completed a permanent move to UAE side Al Ain for 6 million pounds. Pre-season saw the Black Cats beat Dutch outfit FC Gronigen 3-2 , draw with Derby and lose to both Leicester and Hartlepool.

Key Player - Benin's greatest ever player Stephane Sessegnon pulls the strings in the Sunderland side with his tricks and pace. 

My Prediction - 10th - I cannot see any 6th place finishes that O'Neill specialised in at Aston villa.

Team - Swansea City

Manager - Michael Laudrup 

Finish Last Season - 11th

Michu

Pre-season Activity - Manager Brendan Rodgers has left for Liverpool and has been replaced by former Real Mallorca boss Michael Laudrup. The Dane used his Spanish connections immediately signing Spaniards Chico and Michu for a combined 4 million pounds. Other signings include Kyle Bartley from Arsenal and free agent Jamie Proctor. Laudrup was unable to prevent Rodgers coming back to his old club for midfielder Joe Allen who joined the Reds for 15 million pounds. During pre-season Swansea beat Blackpool 4-2 and drew 3-3 with Stuttgart of Germany.   

Key Player - Goalkeeper Michel Vorm was a revelation last season and the Swans fans will hope his cat like reflexes continue to be up to scratch this season.

My Prediction - 16th - Without Rodgers philosophy various players may struggle initially. The main aim like Norwich is two avoid second season syndrome.  

Team - Spurs

Manager - Andre Villas-Boas

Finish Last Season - 4th

AVB is Back

Pre-season Activity - New gaffer Andre Villas-Boas has so far signed two players. Belgian international and Ajax captain Jan Vertonghen joined for 9 million pounds as a replacement for the retiring Ledley King. Swansea loan star Gylfi Sigurdsson has also joined the North London club. Croatian duo Vedren Corluka and Niko Kranjcar have both left the club and that duo could become a trio if Luka Modric gets his move to Real Madrid. Pre-season has seen the Spurs beat Watford, Stevenage and the NY Red Bulls and a loss to Valencia.

Key Player - Any striker, with Adebayor reluctant to sign Spurs only have one recognised striker in Jermain Defoe.

My Prediction - 4th/5th - With another Striker or two Spurs have the basis of a great squad and top for is the aim.

Team - West Brom

Manager - Steve Clarke

Finish Last Season - 10th

Lukaku

Pre-season Activity - The loss of Roy Hodgson could have hit the Baggies harder than they may think, the England manager turned Albion into a solid defensive unit still with the natural flair they always have had. Saying that new gaffer Steve Clarke has brought in Belgium duo Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea and Yassine El Ghanassy from Genton a season long loans. Swedish forward Markus Rosenberg has joined from Werder Bremen. The highlight of pre-season was 3-0 win of Danish outfit FC Copenhagen. 

Key Player - Captain Chris Brunt has a great left foot and scored some crucial penalties last season.

My Prediction - 17th - This being Steve Clarke's first full managerial job survival may be the main aim this season.

Team - West Ham

Manager - Big Sam

Finish Last Season - promoted from the Championship 

Alou Diarra

Pre-season Activity - The best signing for West Ham comes in the form of French international Alou Diarra who has captained his country on various occasions. Other signings include Mohamed Diame and James Collins. Long serving keeper Rob Green has joined fellow Premier League team QPR. A mixed pre-season saw the Hammers lose to Austria Wien, Oxford United, Dresden and Ipswich Town.

Key Player - Kevin Nolan is Big Sam's right hand man and knows the Prem inside out.

My Prediction - 12th - Big Sam will take from all his experience and the Hammers will take a few notable scalps this season.

Team - Wigan Athletic

Manager - Roberto Martinez

Finish Last Season - 15th

Arouna Kone

Pre-season Activity - Martinez has signed Arouna Kone from Levante, Ryo Miyaichi on loan from Arsenal, Ivan Ramis and Frser Fyvie. Outgoing is Hugo Rodallega and Mohamed Diame. Wigan lost friendlies to both Celta Vigo and Mallorca  and drew with Germans Hoffenheim. 

Key Player - Victor Moses will be vital if he stays, rumour has it that Chelsea are closing in on the Nigerian International

My Prediction - 18th - I believe this is the season where Wigan finally say goodbye to the Premier League and we say goodbye to all those empty seats at the DW. 

1st	Man Utd
2nd	Man City
3rd	Chelsea
4th	Spurs/Lpool
5th
6th	Arsenal
7th	Newcastle
8th	Everton
9th	QPR
10th	Sunderland
11th	Villa
12th	West Ham
13th	Fulham
14th	Norwich
15th	Reading
16th	Swansea
17th	West Brom
18th	Wigan
19th	Stoke
20th	Southampton