Premiership Preview--8. Everton

8. Everton is another team who overachieved last season, though to a lesser degree than Reading. With the improvements made by the other teams that finished in the ultra-tight 5th-11th place scramble last year, Everton will really have to fight for another UEFA Cup spot this season. Look, this club played with fire often in 2006-2007 and came out, for the most part, unscathed. There's no real headline player in a back four that only conceded 36 goals last season (5th best in the league), and the club's leading scorer only bagged 11 goals (Andy Johnson). The statistic that is most telling shows that Everton scored a whopping 12 of their 52 total goals in minutes 81-90 last season, 4 more than in any other 10-minute period (8 in minutes 41-50 was their second best total). These periods of time are by far the most important of the game as it's critical to end the first half, start the second half, and finish the game strong because that's when the opponent is often at its weakest. Everton took full advantage of that and finished 6th, which is higher than you'd think a team with the roster they have should finish.

Make what you will of the fact that Everton have basically the same team this season as they had last season. The addition of Leighton Baines from Wigan appears shaky right now but if it happens, he would be an upgrade over current left back Nuno Valente. Utilityman Phil Jagielka was signed from relegated Sheffield United, and he can play in the midfield and across the back line. He also is capable enough as a fill-in goalkeeper that when he played for Sheffield United, manager Neil Warnock often didn't name another goalkeeper to the substitutes bench for matches, preferring instead to bring another field player. Jagielka and 25-year old South African midfielder Steven Pienaar have been the only players brought in by manager David Moyes to this point. Pienaar is currently on a season-long loan from German club Borussia Dortmund, where he played 25 Bundesliga games last season. He'll join former teammate Andy van der Meyde (at Ajax) in a midfield that is solid, maybe even slightly underrated with the likes of Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, Leon Osman, and captain Phil Neville. Striker James Beattie, a former hot prospect at Southampton, looks likely to depart for Sheffield United, but that's no big loss at all as Beattie scored only 2 goals in 33 league games last season. Victor Anichebe certainly figures to play a larger role this season. At only 19 years of age, he's already been part of the senior Nigerian national team (though he hasn't yet played in any games) and prior to that played briefly for the England U-19's before withdrawing from that squad. Fellow youngster James Vaughan (also 19) will get a chance to play more this season after scoring 4 goals in 14 Premiership games last season.

After what should be an easy home game against Wigan to start the season, Everton embark on a prolonged rough patch of fixtures. Trips to Tottenham, Reading, Bolton, and Aston Villa all come during the first two months of the season, as do home games against Blackburn and Manchester United. The first fierce Merseyside derby takes place at Goodison Park on October 20th, with the return match at Anfield on March 29. December will prove to be the toughest month of the season as not only do they have to play 6 games (the last 3 of which in a span of 7 days), their opponents include two of the best teams in the Premiership. Portsmouth, West Ham, and Manchester United will play the role of not-so-merry hosts and Everton also plays Fulham, Bolton, and Arsenal at home. The schedule is considerably more forgiving (at least on paper) from the start of the new year until the end of the season, so look for Everton to make a big second half push.

Bottom Line: This team just doesn't seem like a squad that has any business finishing in a UEFA Cup spot; in fact, Blackburn in 10th place are the more talented team. However, manager David Moyes has always been a successful manager with the limited resources he's had behind him. He managed Preston North End to 113 wins and just 63 losses (with 58 draws) from 1998-2002, and has led Everton to 88 league wins since (with 85 losses and 55 draws). Leighton Baines would be a huge addition to this team, and if Moyes can go out and get some talent in the January transfer window, Everton will be in the running for a UEFA Cup spot, especially with the weaker second half schedule. Recapturing some of the late magic they had last year will be vital, as will another stellar season from goalkeeper Tim Howard, who had 14 clean sheets last season (second most in the league).

Premiership Preview--9. Bolton

9. Bolton narrowly held off Reading, Portsmouth, Blackburn, and Aston Villa last season to claim 7th place and the automatic UEFA Cup spot that comes with it. It was their fourth consecutive top 8 finish under manager Sam Allardyce, but there's a new era at the Reebok Stadium. Allardyce resigned on April 29 and signed on to manage Newcastle just over two weeks later. His assistant manager, Sammy Lee, took over for the last two games of the season and after a debut loss to West Ham escaped with a 2-2 tie against Aston Villa, enough for the club to finish in 7th. This will be Sammy Lee's first full season as a manager of any club, Premiership or otherwise. Fortunately for him, Sam Allardyce didn't leave the cupboard bare and management went out and signed several good players this summer.

Bolton have done the best they can to improve their club in this transfer window. Their only major loss was center back Tal Ben Haim's departure for Chelsea, but Jlloyd Samuel should be able to fill that void adequately. Midfielders Danny Guthrie, Gavin McCann, Mikel Alonso, and Christian Wilhelmsson are all much younger than the ancient players Bolton used in that capacity last year (Ivan Campo, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Gary Speed), and Bolton will be the better for using some of those new younger players for the pace and energy they bring to the table. Bolton's real problem, and one they tried to address by bringing in Heidar Helguson from Fulham, is a lack of explosiveness from their strikers. It's almost a one man show with Nicholas Anelka, but he may yet be on the way out before the summer ends. El-Hadji Diouf isn't the player Liverpool and Bolton thought he would be after his coming out performance for Senegal in the 2002 World Cup, and Ricardo Vaz Te is still unproven at the age of 20. If Anelka leaves, Bolton will be in desperate need for goals with no real options to turn to.

Bolton starts the Premiership season with 8 winnable games in a row, with the toughest test being a trip to Fratton Park to play Portsmouth. October is considerably tougher with Chelsea and Aston Villa coming to the Reebok sandwiched around an away game at Arsenal. All three of their games in February are against UEFA Cup spot contenders in Reading (away), Portsmouth (home), and Blackburn (away). A home game with Liverpool comes the week after the match at Ewood Park, followed by a trip to Manchester to take on the defending champions. 3 of the last 4 games of the season are away, including games at Tottenham and Chelsea.

Bottom Line: While this is a club that has better players than the team that finished 7th last season, their manager is not nearly on the same level as Sam Allardyce. Sammy Lee's inexperience will be the main cause for Bolton's lower finish this season, and a streak of four straight top 8 finishes will come to an end.

No More Ties!

When I read a book or watch a movie or TV show, the one thing I absolutely can't stand is an unresolved ending (Yes, HBO and the Sopranos, I'm talking about you!). I want some sense of finality and closure, some certainty of knowing what happened in the end. Zack and Kelly getting married in Las Vegas was the appropriate ending to a series that I basically grew up watching in Saved by the Bell. In truth though, I wouldn't have even cared if they didn't get married just as long as there was some other concrete conclusion. I don't want to be left asking "what if"?

I'm an avid fan of the NHL and of ice hockey in general. After the lockout year of 2004-2005, Commissioner Gary Bettman and the Board of Govenors needed to do something drastic to bring fans back to the sport. Aside from the various rule changes to showcase the individual player's skills, they implemented something that, in my opinion, is the best thing hockey has done in modern history. Having a shootout after overtime ensures that every game has a winner, ensures that the fans who come to the arena every night will walk away knowing that one team skated off with the 2 points that comes with a win in the NHL. No more boring overtime games which usually ended in ties because both teams played like they were afraid to lose instead of playing to win, and so what ensued was 5 minutes of the sloppiest, ugliest hockey imaginable. Shootouts bring every single fan in the arena to stand up, and those who have watched the NHL over the last two seasons know what I mean when I say that the energy level and excitement in the building when the shootout takes place is unlike anything else seen in sports.

I did some research on the 2006-2007 Premiership season, and what I found was startling. 98 games out of 380 resulted in draws, or 26% of the entire total of league games played last year. Just by going from that stat, a fan who comes to an individual game has a 1 in 4 chance of seeing a tie! That's outrageous! Aston Villa had 17 draws last season out of 38 games, nearly 50%! Ticket prices are rising rapidly for these games and the new stadiums that are being built are funded largely by consumer money. Fans don't want to see these sleep-inducing 0-0 or 1-1 ties. They want to get their money's worth when they come to a game because God knows how much money they're spending to attend. It gets to the point where you listen to radio call-in shows or talk shows and the hosts actually predict ties for games instead of a winner. I don't want to see a tie! That's no way to end a game, because neither team is happy with the result and more importantly, the fans are left unsatisfied. Every effort should be made to decrease the percentage of draws because they're not what brings excitement and passion to a game that is all about those things, especially in England. Here, then, are two proposals I came up with to move away from ties and come out of games with a winner:

• 1. Play 15 minutes of 8 v 8 (7 field players and 1 goalie per team) if the game is tied after 90 minutes of regulation. Golden goal, winner gets 3 points, loser gets 1. If a consensus is reached that the losing team shouldn’t be rewarded, the loser could get 0 points, but in my opinion, the loser should get 1 for taking the game into extra time and because 8 v 8 isn’t traditional soccer. If the game is still tied, go to penalty kicks (see my proposal for PK’s below).

• 2. Go straight to penalty kicks if the game is tied after 90 minutes. 5 rounds, winner gets 2 points, loser gets 1. The loser has to get a point because penalty kicks are a crapshoot, and the winner can’t get the full 3 points for the same reason.

If a system was in place to reward the winner of a game that goes longer than 90 minutes, I guarantee you'd see more exciting soccer because both teams would be after the extra points. No more situations where teams play it safe to just get 1 point out of a game because both teams would surely go for the full points if they were guaranteed that 1 point for extending the game past 90 minutes. Hypothetically, let's say that out of Aston Villa's 17 draws last season, they would've won 8 of those games in the proposed 8 v 8 extra time. That's 16 points more and maybe a UEFA Cup spot, provided the teams above them didn't get as many points from their extra time games. Obviously, these proposals would cause a point inflation in the table and it'd be realistic for the champion to have over 100 points. But it's all relative; people would just get used to seeing higher point totals for teams.

I'm very interested in hearing your feedback about this, so leave some comments or e-mail me about what you think. I'm open to any other suggestions to decide games and to your arguments for keeping ties.

Premiership Preview--10. Blackburn Rovers

10. Blackburn's 2006-2007 campaign was the perfect reflection of mediocrity: They finished with 15 wins, 16 losses, and 7 ties, scoring 52 goals while conceding 54 in the process. That was good enough for 10th place and an Intertoto Cup spot as the two teams ahead of them (Reading and Portsmouth) opted to not take part and thus Blackburn's application was granted. Blackburn have taken full advantage of that so far as they've progressed to the UEFA Cup second qualifying round along with the 10 other teams from across Europe who advanced out of the Intertoto Cup.

Manager Mark Hughes has only brought in three players this summer, but each of those moves was fairly questionable. Goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen is a promising talent at 20 years of age, but he becomes the 5th goalkeeper on a roster of 32 as he transferred in from BK Frem Copenhagen. Brad Friedel doesn't have many years left as he's already 36, but he'll be the starter for the forseeable future. The emergence of striker Matt Derbyshire was a revelation last year, and with 9 goals in 30 appearances (all competitions; 14 starts and 16 substitute appearances), Blackburn looked to have three solid strikers in Jason Roberts, Benni McCarthy, and Derbyshire. As already stated, the team scored 52 goals in the Premiership last year, which was tied for 6th most in the league, and so one wouldn't think the striking corps needed much in the way of reinforcements this summer. Not so, said Mark Hughes, and he went out and got two more. Maceo Rigters is just 23 years old and played for the Dutch U-21 team in the European U-21 Football Championship this summer. Rigters scored 6 goals in 9 appearances for his country at that level and moved to Blackburn from NAC Breda, where he scored only 5 goals in 61 league games. The biggest move occurred just this week when Roque Santa Cruz came to Lancashire after playing for German giant Bayern Munich since 1999. He's still only 25 years of age but has an abundance of experience on the international level with Paraguay (14 goals in 49 appearances for his country since 1999) and in the Champions League with Bayern Munich. Blackburn are now overloaded at the striker position as they've got five legitimate options who will want to play. Mark Hughes is in the unenviable position of keeping each of these players happy, and I think Blackburn would've been better suited to go out and spend the money they invested on Santa Cruz and Rigters on a defender or two, though former DC United star Ryan Nelsen will be returning this season from injury.

A second consecutive top 10 finish for Blackburn won't be out of the cards with their schedule. November and April are the only two months that bring multiple games against the "Big Four" as Blackburn will play Liverpool and Manchester United in each of those months. April is by far the most difficult month with a road game at Portsmouth and a home match against Tottenham as well as the games with Liverpool and Manchester United, but the last two games of the season in May (at home against Derby County, away to Birmingham) should mean 6 points to end the year.

Bottom Line: Scoring goals certainly shouldn't be a problem for Blackburn this season, but it wasn't a problem last season either. Mark Hughes should've went out and spent money elsewhere, but the return of Ryan Nelsen is as good as a new signing. There is a good mix of established veteran players (Tugay, Robbie Savage, Friedel, André Ooijer, etc.) and talented young players (David Bentley, Derbyshire, Rigters, and Christopher Samba) on this team. Higher than 10th won't be out of the question, but any lower would be a disappointment.

Premiership Preview--11. Reading

11. Reading finished 8th last season to the delight of manager Steve Coppell, who had insisted all year long that he didn't want his team to play in the UEFA Cup this season, preferring to put all of the team's focus and energy on the domestic level. I understand Coppell's idea, but at the same time, I think he made a huge mistake in not going for a UEFA Cup spot. Let's be honest, Reading overachieved last season. They've got some good young players, but finishing above more talented teams like Newcastle, Aston Villa, Blackburn, and Portsmouth was a major coup for them. Coppell should have seized the opportunity to play in Europe when it was there for the taking, because Reading won't get back to the top 8 this season.

Reading was one of the least active Premiership teams in the transfer market this summer. The only player brought in by Steve Coppell was 23-year old French defender/midfielder Kalifa Cissé from Boavista. Cissé probably won't play too much in the back for Reading as their back four seems entrenched (Murty, Ingimarsson, Sonko, and Shorey), but should be able to earn considerable playing time in the midfield. Losing Steve Sidwell, arguably the club's best player last season, is a huge blow, but one that was self-inflicted as Sidwell wanted to play for a team that played in Europe, and now he'll do just that with Chelsea. Greg Halford, a 22-year old, 6'5" player who can play nearly every position on the field, left for Sunderland after only playing in 3 games for Reading last season. He's a former England U-20 player who definitely would've played a bigger role for Reading in the future, but he went out in search of more playing time and will probably get it under Roy Keane at Sunderland.

We'll be able to see what kind of team Reading is by looking at their results in their first four games this season. In a 13-day stretch, Reading will go to Manchester United, host Chelsea and Everton, and make a trip to Bolton. They won't be able to hide in those games, and getting off to a good start in the Premiership is essential for any team with European ambitions (though Coppell may not have any). Every game from September into December is very winnable, with the toughest of those being a road game at Portsmouth and a home date with Arsenal. I can't see Reading getting many points out of their 7 combined games in January and February as they'll play at Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Everton, and host Portsmouth, Manchester United, Bolton, and Aston Villa. The run-in to the end of the season isn't exceptionally difficult, but 3 of the last 4 games are away, including a trip to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal.

Bottom Line: The honeymoon is over for Steve Coppell and Reading, as they won't get back to a top 8 finish this season. Reading played over their heads last season and they'll fall back to Earth, though not as dramatically as Wigan did last year after their 10th place finish in 2005-2006. The club was too quiet during the transfer window, especially with the improvements that Aston Villa, Portsmouth, and to a lesser degree Blackburn, made. 11th place would be a decent finish for Reading; I can't see them falling much lower than that but they don't have the firepower to compete with the teams in the top half of the Premiership.

Premiership Preview--12. West Ham

12. After West Ham blew a late lead at home against Tottenham and lost 4-3 on a last minute rebound goal on March 4, I completely wrote West Ham off. I thought they were dead and buried, that they were doomed to life in the Championship. Everyone knows about the controversy surrounding Carlos Tevez, but the fact remains that he almost single-handedly kept the Hammers in the Premiership. It's a near certainty that Tevez won't be at Upton Park this season, but the team that will be there won't be anywhere near relegation this time around.

Manager Alan Curbishley made a flurry of changes this summer and might not be done yet. He got rid of some dead wood (Teddy Sheringham and Roy Carroll) and swapped number one strikers (Marlon Harewood out, Craig Bellamy in). Losing Nigel Reo-Coker won't be too much of a blow as he looked disinterested and aloof at best last season, but the departures of Yossi Benayoun and the versatile Paul Konchesky are tough pills to swallow. Signing Scott Parker from Newcastle will pay big dividends if he can stay healthy as West Ham needed that bulldog-type player in the midfield, and Freddie Ljungberg should step into the role vacated by Benayoun on the wing. Striker Dean Ashton's return from injury is like a new signing and his presence on the roster will be important. West Ham might as well hold open tryouts for strikers after their top three (Bellamy, Ashton, Zamora), so they'll need productive, healthy seasons from each of those players. New midfielder Julien Faubert will probably return around Christmas from a ruptured Achilles tendon, but don't expect too much from the soon-to-be 24-year old this year.

West Ham's schedule brings 3 winnable games out of 4 in August and the same in September. The first spot of prolonged difficulty doesn't come until the end of November-mid December when road games at Chelsea (East-West London derby) and Blackburn are in the middle of home dates with Tottenham (London derby) and Everton. West Ham play Reading, Manchester United (both at home), and Arsenal in succession to bring in the new year, and close out their season with a trip to Old Trafford followed by a home game against Aston Villa. All-in-all, it's a schedule that should allow West Ham to think about a top half finish.

Bottom Line-West Ham of 2007-2008 will more closely resemble the 9th place team of '05-'06 than last season's team. They're solid in every aspect of the game (defense, midfield, attack), though their lack of explosiveness up front will hurt. This is a team that will have a legitimate hope of a top 10 place this season, though I don't think they'll reach that plateau.

Premiership Lookalikes-Continued

3. Patrice Evra (Manchester United) and Robert Ri'Chard (Coach Carter, House of Wax)

Premiership Preview--13. Fulham

13. It's lucky number 13 for Northern Ireland--excuse me, I mean Fulham. Manager Lawrie Sanchez will begin his first full year in charge of the Cottagers with a revamped roster and higher expectations for a team that was going nowhere fast under Chris Coleman. Sanchez managed Northern Ireland from January 2004-May 2007 and took them from 124th in the FIFA world rankings to 33rd, the spot they held when he resigned, and did it with a team that wasn't exactly teeming with individual talent. He's shown that he can be successful but the club level is different than the international stage, so he'll be looking to prove that he can cut it in the Premiership. Fulham finished in 16th place last season, just one point clear of relegation, and were rescued from the drop only by a victory over a Liverpool side that was without many of its top players.

If Sam Allardyce has been proactive in the transfer window this summer, Lawrie Sanchez may have been even more so. He brought in seven players and bid goodbye to eight more, most notably Heidar Helguson, who went to Bolton. Aaron Hughes, Chris Baird, Steven Davis, and David Healy all played under him for Northern Ireland, and striker Diomansy Kamara and versatile defender Paul Konchesky came to Craven Cottage this summer as well. Fulham were tied for the most goals allowed in the Premiership last year (60), and the signings of Hughes, Konchesky, and Baird will give Lawrie Sanchez more options in the back to help shore up the defense. Healy and Kamara join a striking corps that also includes holdovers Brian McBride and Collins John. The attack certainly won't be dynamic, but should be good enough if the defense does the job that's expected of them this season. Heidar Helguson is the only player worth mentioning that left Fulham this summer, so Lawrie Sanchez has a team that will be entrenched in the top 15 this season.

To be honest, Fulham's schedule appears to be the easiest of any of the teams covered in this Premiership preview so far. There's a five-game stretch that covers all of November and into December that brings road games at Manchester United, Liverpool, and Everton, as well as home games with Reading and Blackburn. January will be tricky as well, but Chelsea and Arsenal both come to Craven Cottage and Fulham have winnable road matches at Bolton and West Ham. There are no runs of games of any real length other than those two so Fulham will have every chance to at least challenge for a top half position, though that seems unlikely.

Bottom Line: Lawrie Sanchez will be out to show that he can manage at the club level. I wouldn't be surprised if they swap places with Newcastle (Fulham finishes 14th, Newcastle 13th), but I also wouldn't be surprised if Fulham finish a spot or two higher than 13th either. They've got a decent team in place, a schedule that's not particularly difficult, and a billionaire Egyptian chairman behind them in Mohamed Al-Fayed.

Premiership Preview--14. Newcastle

14. I was tempted to slot Newcastle a bit higher than this. Sam Allardyce is an extremely capable manager who coaxed successful results out of a Bolton team that wasn't stacked with individual talent, and Newcastle have, on paper, a better team than 14th place. However they had a team that should've finished higher than 13th last season and a couple of the teams that finished below them (Fulham and West Ham) are markedly improved and will end up leaping above Newcastle in this year's table. You also can't forget about the curse hanging over the Tyneside club; Neil Armstrong walked on the moon more recently than the last time Newcastle won a major trophy.

Sam Allardyce wasted no time in putting his mark on the club since he was hired as manager. He released Craig Moore and didn't retain Oguchi Onyewu. Titus Bramble and Antoine Sibierski were told their contracts wouldn't be renewed and both went to Wigan. Letting Scott Parker go to West Ham may prove to be a big, big mistake if Parker stays healthy and performs at the level he's capable of for the Hammers this season as Nicky Butt isn't getting any younger. Kieron Dyer may also leave the club as well, but at the time of writing this, he was still a Newcastle player. The players Allardyce brought in all have a chance to be successful at Newcastle. However, Joey Barton will already miss the start of the season with a broken bone in his foot. Mark Viduka hasn't had any time to rest this summer as he played in the Asian Cup for Australia. Geremi has played in only 72 Premiership games since 2003. Signing David Rozehnal should turn out to be a great move for Newcastle, as Allardyce has proven that he can take low-profile, middle-aged defenders (Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Abdoulaye Méïté) and stick them in the back and be successful.

The winter holidays won't be happy for Newcastle this season. October-November (Halloween and Thanksgiving here in America) brings four home games, but difficult ones in Everton, Tottenham, Portsmouth, and Liverpool. Trips to Reading and Sunderland won't be easy, nor will a game at Blackburn on December 1. With the new year comes an even more difficult stretch of games, one that lasts into the beginning of March and will be what condemns Newcastle to the middle of the bottom half of the table. Ready for this? Road games at (in order) Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Liverpool, mixed in with home games against Bolton, Middlesbrough, Manchester United, and Blackburn. If Newcastle can survive that and come out of it with good results, they can think about a top half finish..oh wait, they won't survive it.

Bottom Line-After four consecutive years of top-eight finishes for Sam Allardyce, the run will end. Managing Newcastle is considerably more difficult than managing Bolton because of the increased stress and pressure that comes with it. Newcastle has a roster built around experienced, veteran players which are mixed in with some very talented, promising youngsters who will be the future of the club. Look for them to be better in the 2008-2009 season, but for this year, it's another bottom half, disappointing, trophy-less year for Newcastle.

Great Day for Blackburn; Rovers Enter UEFA Cup, Sign Santa Cruz

A 4-0 win today over Lithuanian side FC Vetra in the third round of the Intertoto Cup advanced Blackburn Rovers to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup as they won the tie 6-0 on aggregate. Morten Gamst Pedersen scored twice and Jason Roberts and Benni McCarthy each talled a goal. Blackburn now face the challenge of playing in a major European competition.

They'll enter the Premier League season and the UEFA Cup with Paraguyan international striker Roque Santa Cruz, who signed a four-year deal to come over from Bayern Munich. Santa Cruz's fate with the German club was sealed when they brought in Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen, and now he joins a club that's loaded with strikers. McCarthy, Roberts, Matt Derbyshire, and new acquistion Maceo Rigters are all very talented, productive players. I'm not sure if this logjam will benefit anyone, but we'll wait and see. Blackburn scored 52 goals in the league last year; I think they would have been better served to go out and spend money on a defender or two as Blackburn gave up 54 goals. Hopefully this move pays off for Blackburn, a club expected to challenge for a European spot once again this season.

Premiership Preview--15. Manchester City

15. Despite finishing in 14th place last season, Manchester City was tied for the fewest goals scored in the Premiership with 29. They set a Premiership record for fewest goals scored at home with 10, and even with a new, wealthy owner (Thaksin Shinawatra) and a high-profile manager (Sven-Goran Eriksson), Manchester City has done very little to address their goalscoring needs or to improve the club. With that being said, it's still only July, and the transfer window is open through August so the possibility of acquiring new players is still there, but at this point Manchester City seemed destined for another disappointing season.

When a team is arguably making more news for the players that are leaving then the players they're bringing in, that's not a good sign. Already this summer stalwart defender Sylvain Distin departed for Portsmouth after being a fixture in the center of defense for City since 2002-2003 (when he was voted their Player of the Year), Hatem Trabelsi, a Tunisian defender/midfielder who made 20 league appearances for City, most of them on the right side, was released, and most notably, Joey Barton left for Newcastle. Barton came up through the youth ranks at Manchester City and earned more and more playing team as he got older. He was the team's best midfielder and most talented player, but numerous off-field and on-field controversies led him and the club to move on. Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov has been brought in from Atletico Madrid after scoring just 3 goals in 45 league games for them, but the key signing was striker Rolando Bianchi from Reggina. Bianchi will have to prove that he can score goals in the Premiership after having an impressive season in Serie A, but as Andriy Shevchenko showed last year, coming over from Italy doesn't necessarily equate to great results in England. Bianchi will now have to adjust to the much faster pace of the game and deal with teams who have much better defenders than teams in the Serie A.

The schedule doesn't look to be too difficult for Manchester City. They've got only one real long, tough stretch of games, but unfortunately it comes towards the end of the season when it could be make-or-break time for the Blues. February 2-April 8 brings 9 league games, including trips to Manchester United, Bolton, Reading, and Birmingham (who by that time may be desperate) and home games against Arsenal, Everton, Wigan, Tottenham, and Chelsea. Manchester City shouldn't be anywhere near the relegation zone, but they don't want to leave anything to chance. That run of games will be very difficult, particularly for a team that doesn't score many goals and will probably give up their fair share of goals this season with a young defense. City is away to Liverpool and Middlesbrough to finish the year, but I expect they'll be in decent shape by then.

Bottom Line-Manchester City won't be relegated unless disaster strikes during the beginning-middle of the season when they're playing games they should take points from. As I said before, the defense is extraordinarily young with the departures of Stephen Jordan, Hatem Trabelsi, and Sylvain Distin. Micah Richards and Nedum Onouha (both possible starters; Richards is for certain) are 19 and 20 years of age respectively. If Bianchi can score 12-15 league goals, that would be a huge boost for a club that probably will struggle to score again this season. Look for Manchester City to make some noise in the 2008-2009 season and beyond, but they're too young to challenge for any European spot this year.

Premiership Preview--16. Middlesbrough

16. Last season, 16th-12th positions were separated by only 7 points, and I have a feeling that this year, that gap will be just as close, if not smaller. There isn't much separating teams at those spots in the table, and it's almost a crapshoot predicting what teams will finish where.

Middlesbrough should, at 16th, be closer to safety than their place indicates. They're one step above the relegation battle but two or three steps below the teams challenging for the UEFA Cup spots, and to me, that indicates mid-bottom end of the league table. This is a team that finished 12th last year and limped through the home stretch of the Premiership season before winning their last two games. They didn't get much better this summer and with the considerable improvements that the teams who finished under Middlesbrough last year made, it's going to be Gareth Southgate's team near the bottom.

Middlesbrough essentially swapped strikers this offseason, acquiring the younger (but smaller) Tuncay Sanli and letting Mark Viduka, who scored some big goals for the club in his three seasons at the Riverside, go to Newcastle. Sanli comes over from Turkish club Fenerbahce, where he averaged roughly a goal every three games. However, it usually takes at least a season for players who come to England from somewhere else in Europe to adjust to the high level and fast-paced style of game played in the Premier League. Middlesbrough also brought in 24-year old Jeremie Aliadiere from Arsenal to boost their attacking punch and right-back Luke Young from relegated Charlton to help shore up a defensive unit that gave up 15 goals in the last 9 games of 2006-2007 season and also lost Stuart Parnaby and Abel Xavier this summer.

Middlesbrough's schedule can essentially be divided into three parts: Two long, extremely difficult stretches of games against teams expected to finish in, or at the very least challenge for, European places this season, and the rest of the games against mid-lower table sides that Middlesbrough will have to take as many points as they can from. From September 30-December 8, Middlesbrough will play 9 league games. Out of those 9, they'll be favored in just one of them, and even it's no guarantee (an away game at Manchester City). Also in that long stretch are home games with Chelsea, Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Arsenal, as well as road matches at Everton, Manchester United, Bolton, and Reading. As if that run of games wasn't difficult enough, there's also a killer finish to the season. February 23-April 26, a span of 10 league games, sees just one "gimme" (a home game with Derby County). Trips to Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Sunderland are also included, as are home dates with Reading, Manchester United, and Bolton. Those two stretches make up 19 games in total, half the total schedule. 57 points are possible from those games but I can't see Middlesbrough getting more than 20, certainly no more than 25. That means Middlesbrough will have to take care of business in their other games to assure themselves of another season in the Premiership.

Bottom Line-Middlesbrough should stay up, though the schedule-makers didn't do them any favors this season. It will be essential for Tuncay Sanli to have a productive season because Middlesbrough don't have a stable of strikers who can put the ball in the net. After Yakubu, the talent level drops to the likes of Jason Euell and Lee Dong-Gook. Ouch.

Premiership Preview--17. Sunderland

17. Championship winner Sunderland should acquit themselves better this time around in the Premiership then they did in their last season there (2005-2006) when they recorded just 15 points and were the joke of the league. Irish manager Roy Keane took over the reins a few games into the Championship season last year and turned what was a disatrous start into a promotion for the Wearside club.

The difference between Sunderland and the three teams below them could very well turn out to be the higher level of talent that Sunderland brought in this summer. Derby County, Birmingham, and Wigan didn't really improve their team; in fact, Wigan's team looks worse (at least on paper) than the side they put on the field last season. Sunderland acquired, amongst others, Kieran Richardson from Manchester United to give the team some pace and skill on the wing, fellow 22-year old Greg Halford, who's extremely versatile and should start in the back, and 23-year old striker Michael Chopra, who scored 22 goals in 42 league matches for Cardiff City last season. This infusion of youth will help provide some excitement and speed to a team that, if they can manage to stay up this season, should be on the rise and has the potential to be a better team down the road. By the same token, there's not a whole lot of players with considerable top-flight experience, other than Dwight Yorke and maybe Kieran Richardson. Young players are extremly susceptible to pressure and aren't as well-suited for competitive, high-level games as veterans are. If these players can grow up and mature on the fly, Sunderland should stay up.

Sunderland's schedule also sets up in a way that seems to give the club every chance to remain in the Premiership. December is the toughest month by far, with road games at Chelsea and Reading and home dates with Aston Villa, Bolton, and Manchester United. Their four games in April are all against mid-table teams, so 8-10 points wouldn't be unreasonable, and just 30 points from all of their previous games should mean safety for the Black Cats. The last two matches of the year could be make-or-break for Sunderland, with a trip to Bolton followed by a home match with Arsenal on the last day of the season.

Bottom Line-As I said before, if Sunderland's young players grow up and accept the pressure of playing in England's top flight, this club has the talent to stay up. Roy Keane is the type of manager who will get the best out of his players through whatever means necessary. His fiery personality should transfer itself onto his players and in the end, Sunderland will remain in the Premiership.

Premiership Preview--18. Wigan Athletic

18. It's going to be one place away from safety for Wigan Athletic this season, as they'll return to the Championship after two years in England's top flight. The drop would cap off the wild ride Wigan supporters (all 4 of them, as evidenced by low attendance at JJB Stadium) have been on in recent years. Three seasons ago, Wigan clinched second place in the Championship on May 8, assuring themselves of a Premiership spot. The next year, Wigan finished in the top half of the Premiership and had a chance to play in Europe, though they turned down their place in the Intertoto Cup. Last year, they narrowly avoided relegation by beating Sheffield United on the last day of the season.

Wigan's one good signing this summer, Welsh international midfielder Jason Koumas, is an underrated move that should pay dividends for a club that was in dire need of a midfield playmaker. However, Wigan still took one step forward and two steps back with the addition (or is it subtraction??) of Titus Bramble, a once-promising defender who is now known more for his comical blunders in the back than anything else, and the departure of Lee McCulloch, who made 224 league appearances for Wigan since 2001. The club will also be counting on new acquisition Antoine Sibierski to step up and score some big goals this season. There's still a chance that Leighton Baines, the young left-back, will leave the club this summer. Baines rejected a move to Sunderland recently and it now appears that Everton, Baines' childhood team, are the front-runners for his services.

Without Paul Jewell in charge, Wigan don't look to have much chance of staying up. Jewell took Wigan from League Two in 2001 to the Premiership in 2005. New manager Chris Hutchings has been at the helm only one other time during his coaching career, a stint with Bradford City from June-November 2000. He recorded 7 wins, 4 draws, and 10 losses during that time and then was sacked. He's been assistant manager at Wigan for the past six seasons, but I thought Wigan needed to go get a more experienced, higher-profile coach this summer and they failed to do that.

The schedule is fairly navigable up through November, and Wigan will need to take as many points as they can from the 11 games they'll play to that point. November brings Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal (the latter two on the road), and it's likely they'll take no points from those three games. A trip to Bolton in early December doesn't make things much easier. Their three matches in February could turn out to be the pivotal point for Wigan this season. They're home to West Ham and Derby County, with an away match at Sunderland sandwiched in between. Wigan will probably need to take maximum points out of those games if they're in trouble heading into February, because their last five matches are as difficult as they come (Chelsea and a much improved Aston Villa side away, Tottenham, Reading, and Manchester United at home).

Bottom Line-If Wigan lose Leighton Baines this summer, give them absolutely no chance to stay up; put them below Birmingham in the end-of-year table. It may take a managerial change in the middle of the season to bring life into a club that just doesn't have the personnel to stay up.

Premiership Lookalikes

They say that everyone in this world has someone who looks exactly like them. Well, these gentlemen may not be the people who that nice little saying refers to, but for me, it's a good start. Feel free to think of some more Premiership figures who look like American celebrities. Players or managers, I don't care. Ready, set, go!


1. Steve Bruce (Birmingham City) and Jay Leno (Tonight Show)



2. Alan Curbishley (West Ham) and James Denton (Desperate Housewives)..well, maybe an older James Denton..

Premiership Preview: 20 Teams, 10 Days--20. Derby County, 19. Birmingham City

Over the next 10 days, starting from the bottom, I will preview my predicted order of finish for each of the 20 Premiership teams. I'll summarize their major transfers in and out, take a look at how their schedule sets up, and explain my reasoning for where I believe they'll end up in the table after this season.



19. Fellow Premiership returnees Birmingham City also should end the season with a return ticket to the Championship. The Blues spent only one season back in the second tier of English soccer, but manager Steve Bruce (aka Jay Leno, more on that later) will have to do a wonderful job of coaching to keep this club up.

Birmingham made a couple of solid moves this summer, including bringing in the young Dutch midfielder Daniel de Ridder and making Fabrice Muamba's loan deal from Arsenal permanent. Stuart Parnaby provides depth with his versatility at the back. Steve Bruce also appears confident that they will sign midfielder Hossam Ghaly from Tottenham by this weekend, but the move that now appears unlikely is the acquisition of Mido, also from Tottenham. The departure of DJ Campbell is the only real loss to a side that finished runners-up in the Championship last season.

If Birmingham are to have any hope for staying up, they'll need big seasons from their strikers, Cameron Jerome and Mikael Forssell. Forssell has been a disappointment since he made his loan deal from Chelsea permanent in 2005, scoring just 4 goals in 35 league games since. Jerome is a very talented young player but scored only 7 goals in 37 league games in 2006. Radhi Jaidi, a Tunisian defender, scored 6 goals in 37 league games for Birmingham by comparison, so increased production from the strikers will be vital for Birmingham.

August opens up with a bear of a match at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea is undefeated for 2+ years of league games. The rest of the month shapes up far easier for the Blues, but in September they play Bolton, Liverpool, and Manchester United in successive weeks (Bolton and Manchester Utd. at home). With the new year comes Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea also in consecutive weeks, with the first two of those games away from St. Andrew's. The home stretch of games is manageable enough, and even if Birmingham can take care of business in those games, they'll still need to steal some points from games in which they'll be the heavy underdogs.

Bottom Line-Birmingham will be a lot closer to safety then they will be to 20th place, but they still will be relegated.



20. Bringing up the rear, I've got Derby County. Back in the Premiership after a five-year absence, the Rams have a tough season ahead of them. They've brought in no real players of note, though Robert Earnshaw could turn out to be a decent buy, and on top of that, they'll start the season without talented midfielder Giles Barnes. Barnes looks certain to miss the season opener at home against Portsmouth, and is highly doubtful to play in either of the two consecutive away matches after that.

September trips to Liverpool and Arsenal won't help the Rams get off to a much-needed good start, and they also play Tottenham on the road in August as well as Reading the first week of October. Everton, Newcastle, Bolton, and Portsmouth (all UEFA Cup spot contenders) make up 4 of the first 5 home games. The run-in towards the end isn't much easier, as Derby plays Manchester United and Chelsea on consecutive weekends in March and finish up with Blackburn and Reading (Blackburn away, Reading home). It looks fairly certain that Derby won't get off to a good start, and with a pretty tough schedule towards the end of the season, they'll have to make hay during the winter months to have any chance of staying in the Premiership.

Bottom Line-Derby will head back down to the Championship. No if's, and's, or but's.

Freddie Ljungberg Completes Move to West Ham

Swedish international star Freddie Ljungberg sealed a move to West Ham yesterday, ending a decade-long run with Arsenal and with it, his tenure as the longest-serving player of the famed North London club. In total, he appeared 325 times in all competitions for Arsenal, scoring 72 goals, but injuries severely limited his impact with the team in his last three seasons, as he played in only 69 of the possible 114 Premier League games.

His move across London is just another of the flurry involving West Ham this summer. Ljungberg joins Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker at Upton Park, and one of the biggest reasons for his transfer is the club's chairman, Eggert (aka Elf-Ears) Magnusson, a fellow Swede:

“And why I want to join is because of Magnusson. He wants to bring them forward to be top of the country.

“He’s willing to go to the transfer market to buy top players and mix them with youth players. West Ham have a great academy.

“He wants to help take the club up and take them to the top in England. It’s a big challenge for me."

West Ham are not exactly stacked in midfield and if Ljungberg can stay healthy, he'll surely play a vital role for a team with European ambitions this season. If they can somehow hold on to Carlos Tevez, their fire would just be stoked even more and West Ham would be a serious contender for a European place.

New Jerseys for Middlesbrough

Here's a look at Middlesbrough's new jerseys for the 2007-2008 Premier League campaign. The club has replaced former sponsor 888.com with Garmin, a satellite navigation company based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Middlesbrough's new logo is featured prominently, which is a refreshing change from the uniforms that splash the sponsor's name in huge lettering across the jersey and leave little room for the club's crest to show. I like both jerseys a lot; maybe a bit plain for my taste, but overall, two nice jerseys. They should be available for purchase around the middle of August.
Jersey designer: Errea

•Image courtesy of footballshirts.co.uk

Chris Eagles

I was watching highlights from the Manchester United-FC Seoul friendly yesterday and noticed something about the goal Chris Eagles scored (more on that in a bit). He also scored the final goal against Everton in Man U's 4-2 victory on April 28, the win that essentially wrapped up the Premiership for the club. It was his first ever goal for Manchester United.

What's the point of this post, you ask? Check out the clips of these two goals scored by Eagles. When was the last time you saw another young player open his body and place the ball to the right corner the way Chris Eagles does? These are two good goals.

1. @ Everton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyhBI7rnP-E

2. vs. FC Seoul: http://www.dailymotion.com/related/4336920/video/x2kygg_fc-seoul-0-2-manchester-united-eagl_sport/1

Saturday Night's Alright-for Soccer

We've got two friendlies on tap tonight, both of which are set to kickoff at 8:30 PM here on the East Coast. Though nearly all of America knows that Chelsea is in suburban Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy (with or without David Beckham), Everton's preseason tour in the US has been far less publicized. The Merseyside club's first stop is in Salt Lake City to play MLS Western Conference bottom-dweller Real Salt Lake.


Everton also announced that they too would be coming to Los Angeles. This Tuesday (July 24), they are set to face the Premier Development League's Ventura County Fusion at the Home Depot Center. The PDL is considered to be the 4th tier of American soccer, with most of its teams, including Ventura County, playing at high school fields.


I have nothing to say about the Chelsea-LA Galaxy game tonight (8:30 PM, ESPN) that hasn't been said by the media already; this game is the most hyped soccer event in recent memory, though for reasons other than the actual game (David Beckham, cough, cough).

Everton's Schedule:
Tonight: @ Real Salt Lake (8:30 PM ET, GolTV)
Tuesday, July 24: vs. Ventura County Fusion (TV TBA)