Premiership Preview Change of Plans

It's a busy weekend for me, what with the start of the Olympics, the Community Shield tomorrow, and finally attempting to get things organized for my move-in at college in a couple weeks. With those things in mind, I've decided to delay the release of my last four Premiership previews for a couple days.

You'll now be able to find places 4 and 3 on Monday and 2 and 1 on Tuesday. I think the timing is better anyway as we'll be in full Premiership mode early next week with the start of another grueling, entertaining season that weekend.

I may post once or twice before Monday if I see anything in the news that catches my eye, but if not, have a good weekend and the previews will resume on Monday.

Premiership Preview--5. Aston Villa

Aston Villa surprised many neutrals last season, and probably even some of their own supporters, with their 6th-place finish. In 2006-2007, the Villans checked in at a respectable 11th, a nice improvement from 16th the season before. Villa's emergence, led by manager Martin O'Neill, came with one of the smallest, if not THE smallest, first team rosters in the Premiership. Fortunately for O'Neill, that roster was full of fresh legs, and they carried Villa in style to a place in this summer's Intertoto Cup.

The Birmingham-based club has now advanced to the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round, where they'll meet FH, an Icelandic side that shouldn't provide much more than token resistance. If Villa does what they should do, they'll progress to the First Round proper.

O'Neill realizes he needs a deeper squad to account for the extra slate of games that the UEFA Cup will bring, and to make a serious run at a place in next season's Champions League. To wit, he's added five players and made permanent the acquisition of another, Curtis Davies. At least four of those six players will start for Villa this season, and five will see significant playing time.

Brad Friedel replaces Scott Carson, who had a terrific '07-'08 season on loan from Liverpool, in goal. Full-backs Luke Young (right) and Nicky Shorey (left) were both brought in yesterday for a combined $16 million. Young is the only pure right back on the roster with Olof Mellberg's departure and is coming off a solid season for Middlesbrough. Shorey takes the place of Wilfred Bouma, who started every game for Villa last season but suffered a horrific-looking dislocated ankle in the second leg of his team's Intertoto Cup Third Round tie against Odense BK on July 26. Bouma is scheduled to return just after Christmas if his recovery goes according to plan, but will now have competition for his old place. Curtis Davies' loan deal from West Brom was made permanent for nearly $20 million this summer. He is ahead of schedule on his return from a ruptured Achilles tendon on March 1 at Arsenal, having played 60 minutes in recent back-to-back friendlies. When fully fit, he'll compete with Zat Knight to start alongside Martin Laursen at center back at the very least, and he may very well win the job. Steve Sidwell never should've left Reading two summers ago; he had a season to forget last year at Chelsea, but his career could be revived at Villa.

O'Neill lost only one key piece -- Mellberg. The Swedish international was a fixture in Villa's back line and a rock on the right side. He didn't get forward like a traditional right back, but he won nearly everything in the air and just didn't make mistakes on defense. Carson went back to Liverpool as he was only on loan, and Liverpool wound up selling him straight away to West Brom for a discount price.

Villa is strongest in midfield, where the addition of Sidwell provides some insurance in case Liverpool does end up buying Gareth Barry before the transfer window closes. Ashley Young is a star-in-the-making on the left wing and very underrated by those outside of the club. He'll have more of a free role this season, and look for him to occasionally drift inside behind the strikers. If Barry stays, he'll play in the center. The versatility of Nigel Reo-Coker, a natural center midfielder, will allow him to shift to the right flank to accommodate Sidwell. Reo-Coker is nothing flashy but he's quick and as tenacious a ball-winner as they come. You'll see a few other players out there, though, too -- Shaun Maloney can play on either wing but typically is used to be a spark off the bench, Craig Gardner may get a chance, and Stiliyan Petrov can play either on the right or in the middle. Isaiah Osbourne provides solid cover in the center. Moustapha Salifou is a perfect fill-in for Sidwell. Wayne Routledge, like Maloney, is a speedy little winger but prefers to play on the right.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2/4-3-1-2):
GK: Friedel

RB: Young
CB: Laursen
CB: Knight
LB: Shorey

*RMF/RCMF: Reo-Coker
**CMF/LCMF: Barry (captain)
CMF: Sidwell
*LMF/AMF: Young

ST: John Carew
ST: Gabriel Agbonlahor

*When Villa plays a 4-3-1-2, Young is the "1", with Barry, Sidwell, and Reo-Coker (L to R) as the "3". Because the attack-minded Sidwell is on board and they already have Young, they're more likely to use the 4-4-2. Remember, though, when Villa hit a great run of form towards the end of last year, O'Neill did use the 4-3-1-2.

**If Barry does leave, either Reo-Coker, the current vice-captain, or Laursen will inherit the captain's armband. Reo-Coker will shift into the middle with Sidwell, and either Petrov or Maloney will start on the right. If it's Maloney, Villa will surely use the 4-4-2. If it's Petrov, Villa can play either formation.

It's not as confusing as I know I just made it sound, so don't worry.

Villa has already started their season; they knocked Odense out of Europe as I alluded to earlier. They next play in Iceland against FH on the 14th, and their Premiership season kicks off three days later with an interesting home game against Manchester City. A trip to Stoke City and the return leg with FH follows those two matches. O'Neill's side finishes up the month with another appetizing match at Villa Park, this one against Liverpool. In the corresponding fixture last season, Steven Gerrard won the game late with a magical free kick that was one of the year's best goals.

October brings Chelsea (away) and Portsmouth and Blackburn (both at home), as well as a visit to Wigan, a must-win game for the Villans.

Arsenal and Manchester United headline Villa's November slate, and the "Big Four" opponents come on successive weekends. Home games against Middlesbrough and Fulham should be straightforward, though the game at St. James' Park to start the month is tricky.

Interestingly enough, Villa closes out the season with their most difficult stretch and their easiest stretch back-to-back. In a five-game span that comprises all of March and half of April, they'll play Man City (away), Tottenham (home), Liverpool (away), Manchester United (away), and Everton (home), but they follow that run with West Ham at home, Bolton away, Hull City at home, Fulham away, Middlesbrough away, and Newcastle at home to finish up.

Bottom Line: Holding on to Barry would be a major boost for Villa and at the same time, losing him would be a big loss. The increased number of games that comes with playing in Europe will test Martin O'Neill and the resolve of his team. There is plenty of talent on the roster so expect the team to be in the top six with or without their current captain. If they have him, though, they can compete for 4th place. American chairman Randy Lerner has pledged more money to O'Neill if he wants to go out there and buy a couple more pieces, and I'd expect the manager to strengthen this squad a little bit more in the back.

Premiership Preview--6. Tottenham

The 2007-2008 season was a roller coaster for Tottenham Hotspur. Martin Jol was removed from the manager's post in late October, but only found out through a text message sent to his nephew, who then forwarded the news to the Dutchman's phone. A team that was a trendy pick to break into the top four at Arsenal's expense was sitting around 15th place at the time, and for all the plaudits received by Juande Ramos for the job he did after he took over from Jol, Spurs still only wound up in 11th. They beat Chelsea to win the Carling Cup, but Ramos isn't being paid a whopping $9 million per season for mid-table finishes.

Spurs have undergone considerable change under Ramos, both on the field and off. The Spaniard implemented new dietary and fitness standards to keep his team in the best possible shape. He uses a more rigid, disciplined 4-4-2 than Jol, relying less on individual creativity and making it a team game.

He's turned over the roster from back to front, bringing in eight new players this summer in addition to the four acquired in the January transfer window, while getting rid of eight others this summer, four in January, and loaning several more out. All these moves haven't come cheaply; the net cost to build this new first team is well over $100 million. To be fair, the money spent has brought back some great young talent and potential high-impact returns.

Heurelho Gomes was signed from PSV for around $14 million to be the starting keeper. David Bentley's initial $30 million price tag needs to justified with his play on the right wing. Luka Modrić is a joint club-record signing at $33 million from Dinamo Zagreb, and the Croatian midfielder should play as an attacking midfielder behind the two strikers. Giovani Dos Santos, who has been labeled as "the next Lionel Messi, cost roughly $9.5 million up front, though that figure could rise to $17.2 million based on performance-related criteria, and the deal includes a sell-on clause as well. Dos Santos made the move from Barcelona, who seemed happy to ship the supremely skilled Mexican youngster off because of some well-documented attitude issues, likely relating to the immaturity that comes part-and-parcel with his age. He'll be looking to prove those doubters wrong with his play opposite Bentley.

Only one major piece from a year ago has left White Hart Lane -- Robbie Keane was sold to Liverpool for a total that could end up at just over $40.5 million. The Irish striker scored 23 goals in all competitions last season and 45 combined in the past two campaigns. He formed a lethal partnership with Dimitar Berbatov up front, who will now pair with Darren Bent.

Spurs are undoubtedly strongest in midfield, where they now have eight players who would be legitimate starters for most every other team in the Premiership. Only four, and occasionally five, can play at the same time, however, and three of those spots already seem to be filled up by Bentley, Dos Santos, and Modrić. Of those three, Dos Santos is the one who may not start all the time because Modrić can play on the left as well, which would allow another central player to get a chance. Four central midfielders -- Tom Huddlestone, Didier Zokora, Jermaine Jenas, and Jamie O'Hara -- are essentially competing for one or two spots, with the middle two the clear favorites at this point, especially Zokora. Kevin-Prince Boateng may also figure into that mix, though he's probably going to be resigned to appearances in cup games. Aaron Lennon (remember him?) provides much more pace than Bentley on the right, but Bentley is a superior crosser and is very good on the set piece. Because of this plethora of midfielders, don't be surprised to see Ramos employ a 4-2-3-1 at times throughout the year.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Gomes

*RB: Alan Hutton
CB: Jonathan Woodgate
**CB: Ledley King (captain)
LB: Gareth Bale

RMF: Bentley
DMF: Zokora
AMF: Modrić
LMF: Dos Santos

ST: Berbatov
ST: Bent

*Hutton is out for an indefinite period with a sprained ankle, so expect to see Zokora inserted there to start the season. Jenas would then be shifted to Zokora's role in the midfield.

**It's been reported that because of King's chronic knee problem, he can realistically only play one game out of every three for the rest of his career. When ready, King will start, but you'll be seeing plenty of Michael Dawson as well.

Games against Chelsea (away), Aston Villa (home), and Portsmouth (away) highlight the six-match opening to Spurs' schedule, which also includes must-win home games with Sunderland and Wigan.

October begins in easy fashion for Ramos' side, with visits from Hull City and Bolton sandwiched around a trip to Stoke City. After those three matches, though, comes the first "scum" vs. "scum", North London derby of the season against Arsenal, with this one coming at the Emirates to finish up the month.

The much-anticipated clash with Arsenal is followed in short order by an appearance from Liverpool, a must-watch game as it's Robbie Keane's return to White Hart Lane.

Tottenham hasn't beaten Arsenal in the Premiership seemingly in ages, and hadn't defeated the Gunners in any competition since November 1999 before they thumped Arsene Wenger's kids 5-1 in the second leg of the Carling Cup semifinal last year. Spurs will get their second chance to beat Arsenal in the league on February 7 and get home-field advantage in that game.

Spurs end the year with four tough games in their last five; road games at Manchester United, Everton, and Liverpool are broken up by a winnable home game against West Brom and a tricky home date with Manchester City.

Bottom Line: It's simple -- if all of the new signings brought in by Ramos can adjust to the Premiership quickly, Spurs has the talent to challenge for a place in next year's Champions League; if not, all the optimism in this part of North London will have gone out the window and it'll be yet another disappointment from the club's end. Tottenham has spent the money to contend, now they have to put up or shut up.

Premiership Preview--7. Portsmouth

Just like Manchester City and Everton, Portsmouth is coming off their best season in England's top division in years, and I'm not sure there'd be much argument from the South Coast side's supporters by saying it was the best season in club history. Portsmouth wound up in 8th place, their highest-ever finish in the Premiership (though not in the old First Division). They won the FA Cup for the second time in their 110-year existence, thereby earning a berth in this season's UEFA Cup, the first time Portsmouth will play in a European competition.

It was an amazing year for a team that seemed destined for relegation midway through the 2005-2006 campaign. At that point, Pompey's fortunes changed forever. Wealthy Franco-Russian businessman Alexandre Gaydamak became co-owner of the club in January, which was in the bottom three at the time, and invested money immediately, allowing manager Harry Redknapp, who'd only come back to Portsmouth in December following a short stint at arch-rival Southampton, to bring in much-needed reinforcements. Portsmouth hit a good run of form at the end of the season and managed to escape the drop. Gaydamak then became sole owner in July. The rest, as they say, is history.

The combination of Gaydamak and Redknapp has worked wonders for a small-market side with the smallest stadium in the Premiership in Fratton Park, which seats just over 20,000 people. Gaydamak has financed acquisitions -- Lassana Diarra, John Utaka, Sulley Muntari, David James, Niko Kranjčar, etc. -- that have made Portsmouth a considerably better side, and the $22 million signing of striker Peter Crouch this summer was a club record. Redknapp, for his part, is Portsmouth's most successful manager in terms of win percentage since Bob Jackson in the late '40's-early '50's, and in terms of total wins since George Smith, who was at the helm basically throughout the entirety of the '60's.

Most of Redknapp's big transfer moves have come prior to this summer's window, with the exception of Crouch, of course. He's lost only one player so far, Muntari, though the attack-minded Ghanian midfielder was Portsmouth's best field player last season, his only one in the Premiership. He will sorely be missed, but Inter Milan came-a-calling and offered significantly more money (around $10 million more) than what Portsmouth paid to sign him from Udinese in the first place. Redknapp and Gaydamak couldn't turn that quick profit down, which effectively offset Crouch's signing by half. Crouch and Defoe should form a lethal partnership up front; the pacey Defoe provides explosiveness and will run off balls won down from the air by Crouch, who has great body control and creativity for a man his size. Ben Sahar came on loan from Chelsea, and the Israeli international has made it clear that he intends to challenge for playing time on the front line.

With Muntari's departure, Portsmouth's strongest area shifts from the midfield to the defense, including David James, the league's best keeper last year. Pompey conceded just 40 goals, though James single-handedly kept anywhere from 5 to 10 more out by coming up with an incredible save of some kind. Sol Campbell is the club's captain and heart and soul of the back four. He's joined in the middle by the vice-captain, Sylvain Distin, who started 36 league games last season, an impressive total for a center back. Both men stand at 6'4" and are as physical as they come, so most aerial 50-50's played by the opposing team into the penalty area go for naught. Glen Johnson thrust himself into contention for the England national team with his play at right back, finally living up to the potential Chelsea saw originally when they signed him from West Ham a few years ago. As with Manchester City, Portsmouth's weak link in defense is at left back. Hermann Hreiðarsson occupies the position for Pompey. He's getting on in years (34), doesn't offer much going forward, and can be exploited by speedy right wingers, but he doesn't make too many mistakes.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: James

RB: Johnson
CB: Campbell (captain)
CB: Distin
LB: Hreiðarsson

RMF: Utaka
DMF: Diarra
CMF: Papa Bouba Diop
LMF: Kranjčar

ST: Crouch
ST: Defoe

Portsmouth opens the season with as difficult an August as any team in the Premiership, with games at Chelsea and Everton sandwiched around Manchester United's visit to Fratton Park. It's the second straight year that Pompey has played those two "Big Four" giants in August; they took one point out of a possible six in the last go-around.

September and October are no easy feats either. Portsmouth will see Manchester City (away), Tottenham (home), Aston Villa (away), and Liverpool (away) -- all European participants -- along with Stoke City and Fulham in must-win home games.

After that tough run to start the year, Pompey will likely have to make up ground and have a perfect opportunity to do just that in November and December. Those two months bring 10 league games, and Redknapp's side can conceivably win 9 of those and take points from all 10. The opponents they should beat: Wigan, Hull City, Blackburn, Newcastle, West Ham (all at home), and Sunderland, West Ham, West Brom, and Bolton on the road. Each of those matches are winnable, so we'll see how Portsmouth does.

The South Coasters have to play Liverpool, Man United, and Chelsea in a four-game stretch in February and early March, an arduous task to say the least.

Portsmouth closes out the season with another straightforward slate of fixtures. Seven of their last eight -- @Hull, West Brom, Bolton, @Newcastle, @Blackburn, Sunderland, and @Wigan -- should be handled without too much difficulty, and a showdown against Arsenal at Fratton Park comes the first weekend of May.

Bottom Line: In terms of net loss and gain, the Muntari-for-Crouch tradeoff won't help or hurt Portsmouth too much. The two bring different skillsets to the table and while Muntari is probably the better player overall, Crouch adds a lot more to the front line, both directly and indirectly, with what he can do. Last season was the first that the majority of the starters had a chance to really get used to one another, and that working relationship should continue to grow in '08-'09. This is a talented bunch, but if Redknapp feels he needs an additional piece or two in January, Gaydamak will provide the money. It'll be interesting to see how much, if at all, the extra UEFA Cup games will affect Portsmouth's play in the Premiership. Expect no worse than another 8th-place finish, but I could see Pompey crawl up the table a bit higher than 7th as well.

Tomorrow I'll preview the teams just outside the top four, both of which have an eye on breaking the traditional stranglehold imposed by England's giants.

Premiership Preview--8. Manchester City

Manchester City's 2007-2008 campaign was their best since rejoining the Premiership after a few years of purgatory in England's lower levels. Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson compiled a very respectable 19-11-15 record in his first year on the job, guiding the club to a 9th-place finish, a trip to the Carling Cup quarterfinals, and a berth in the UEFA Cup through their fair play record.

Things were looking up with the global ensemble -- Elano (Brazil), Martin Petrov (Bulgaria), Vedran Ćorluka (Croatia), Rolando Bianchi (Italy), Javier Garrido (Spain), Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland), and Benjani (Zimbabwe) -- acquired by the Swede either last summer or, in Benjani's case, the January transfer window. The promise of the future, however, wasn't enough for impatient owner and accused human rights abuser and tax evader, among other things, Thaksin Shinawatra. The deposed, then exiled, former prime minster of Thailand relieved Eriksson of his duties in early June.

In effect, Shinawatra said that the job Eriksson did simply wasn't good enough, and then-Blackburn manager Mark Hughes was tapped to take the reins. Hughes was certainly a competent boss for Rovers and knows the surrounding area well, having spent the majority of his playing career at Manchester United and then leading Blackburn, located in suburban Manchester. Now he's back in the city proper and inherits the very solid roster left by Eriksson.

The Welsh manager has made one significant improvement, though, in the form of Jô, a terrific young (21) Brazilian striker with a prodigious strike record at CSKA Moscow, his last club. The transfer fee, a club-record, was undisclosed -- it was rumored to be in the neighborhood of $40 million -- and Jô brings explosiveness and goal-scoring ability that City didn't have in their forwards last season. Israeli international Tal Ben Haim was acquired from Chelsea, likely as cover behind the incumbent starting center backs, Micah Richards and Richard Dunne.

Hughes has trimmed some of the fat off the team as well, both literally and figuratively. Emile Mpenza (released), Georgios Samaras (moved to Celtic), and Paul Dickov (relased) were all part of that disappointing group of strikers a year ago, with those three combining for a miserable two league goals, both scored by Mpenza. To be fair, Dickov was shipped out on loan to two Championship clubs last season, Crystal Palace and Blackpool, but was on City's roster for a short time. Geovanni was a versatile utility player for Eriksson, coming off the bench 17 times in the Premiership, but Hughes opted to release him as well. Andreas Isaakson's injury-plagued tenure at City ended when he left for PSV Eindhoven, though he's no big loss either as Joe Hart has entrenched himself as the starting goalkeeper. After six seasons and 130 league appearances for Sun Jihai, the Chinese full back moved to Sheffield United on a free transfer.

All-in-all, Hughes has clearly improved his squad and lost no one of consequence. The back line, including Hart between the sticks, is his strongest asset. City conceded 53 goals last season, but that total is inflated by the 8 given up against Middlesbrough in the final game of the year. I personally felt like -- and still do -- that that performance was the City players' way of protesting the speculation surrounding Sven's future with the club, which was very much in doubt even then. This group isn't that poor, and the team truly looked as if they were barely going through the motions for the duration of the match.

Richards and Dunne, the club captain, headline the back four. Richards has enormous potential and great ability already for his age (20), and can also play right back, which he does with the England national team. Ben Haim provides capable depth behind the two and is good enough to challenge for playing time if either of the starters' form slips dramatically. At 6'4", Ćorluka isn't a prototypical right back, but he's very, very good and still only 22. He's physical, can get up and down the flank, and has a terrific "soccer IQ", meaning he really understands the game. Hart is just 21 and is regarded as England's keeper of the future, though Scott Carson may have something to say about that. Hart isn't as tall as others at his position, limiting his ability to claim balls in the air, but he makes up for it with his superior positioning. The weak link in City's defense is at left back, where Garrido and Michael Ball, who is best known for stamping on Cristiano Ronaldo's stomach in a Manchester derby two seasons ago, essentially shared the starting role last year. Both like to go forward, but neither chip in much on the attack. Nedum Onouha, another youngster, has sprinter's speed and can fill in in the center or on the right.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Hart

RB: Ćorluka
CB: Richards
CB: Dunne (captain)
LB: Garrido

RMF: Stephen Ireland
CMF: Michael Johnson
AMF: Elano
LMF: Petrov

*ST: Jô
*ST: Benjani

*Jô will miss the start of the season due to his participation in the Olympics for Brazil. Benjani has a thigh strain that could keep him out into September. In their places, you'll likely see Valeri Bojinov and Darius Vassell.

City's UEFA Cup commitment forces them to play five games in August, rather than the three that will be played by most other Premiership clubs. Three of those five come in a six-day span -- West Ham on the 24th, @FC Midtjylland on the 28th in the second leg of their UEFA Cup second qualifying round tie, and Sunderland two days after their return from Denmark. City starts the season at Aston Villa, which will be an interesting game between two European contenders.

September isn't as congested, but it's still difficult. City hosts Chelsea and Portsmouth before traveling to Wigan in a must-win game to end the month.

Liverpool comes to town on the first Saturday of October, the toughest game in a relatively straightforward month that also features Newcastle (away), Stoke City (home), and Middlesbrough (away).

The trend of home games against top teams continues in December, when Tottenham, Arsenal, and Manchester United travel to the City of Manchester Stadium to face Hughes' men. City also pays visits to Bolton and Hull City in that month and again, those are likely must-win games given the quality of those other three opponents.

It's because of that trend that the second half of City's schedule is tougher by far. Of course the opponents are the same but since the schedule balances out, City has to play each of the league's best teams on their home ground the second time around. The Citizens have to make hay during the first half of the year, which they did last season, because they're probably going to struggle down the back stretch to close things out.

Bottom Line: The defense is very capable, the midfield is above average, but the strikers are where this team will be made or broken. You have to score goals, and a ton of them, to compete with the likes of Tottenham, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, and each of those teams has better options up front than City. Jô needs to have a great debut season and carry the load, because I'm not sure how much they're going to get from Benjani, Bianchi, Vassell, and Valeri Bojinov. Shinawatra has shown that he can be quick on the trigger, so if City struggles this year, Hughes may find himself on the way out.

Premiership Preview--9. Everton

As much as Everton fans may not want to admit it, their club will always operate under arch-nemesis and cross-town rival Liverpool. There's no way around it; Liverpool is statistically the most successful team in English history, having won more league titles (18), Carling Cups (7), and European Cups/Champions League trophies (5) than any other club in the country. They're tied for the most UEFA Cup triumphs with three. The Reds won the Champions League again recently, just four seasons ago, reached the '06-'07 final in Athens, and won their 7th FA Cup one year prior. Everton can't stack up with that, so fair or not, they're the city of Liverpool's second club.

However, Everton is coming off their best season in just over two decades. The 1986-1987 campaign will never be forgotten by Evertonians; it was the year in which the Toffees won the old First Division, shared the Charity Shield (albeit with Liverpool), and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup. They've had some good seasons since then but nothing that would top last year's 5th-place finish, semifinal appearance in the Carling Cup, and trip to the UEFA Cup Round of 16, where they eliminated in heartbreaking fashion on PK's by Fiorentina.

With that success in mind, those fans have to be disappointed with the summer their club has had so far. Manager David Moyes hasn't brought in any new players, although he did make an effort to sign talented 21-year-old attacking midfielder João Moutinho from Sporting Lisbon. Everton's $23.6 million offer was rejected by the Portuguese side, but it's been made clear that Everton won't give up in their pursuit of the player. Manuel Fernandes returned to Valencia from his second loan spell with Everton, though Moyes has said he'd love to have Fernandes back on loan or permanently if a satisfactory deal could be reached.

An improved offer for Moutinho could be financed by the pending sale of Andy Johnson, Everton's leading scorer in all competitions two seasons ago, to Fulham. If Johnson goes, he'll join Lee Carsley, Stefan Wessels, Bjarni Vidarsson, and Patrick Boyle out the doors of Goodison Park, though of those four, only Carsley's departure could hurt Everton as he started 33 games in the center of midfield last year. Johnson's 9-12 goals a season would be missed as well, and it seems like Moyes is counting on young striker Victor Anichebe to develop on the fly next year.

Everton is strongest in their midfield already, so the additions of Moutinho and Fernandes would only make them even more dangerous. Diminutive right winger Mikel Arteta has returned to Earth with a single goal and 7 assists to his name in the Premiership a season after he broke out with 9 goals and 13 assists, but the Spaniard is still a quality player. Opposite him is another player who is slight of stature, Steven Pienaar.

Pienaar and Arteta are very effective running down the flanks, but someone has to get the ball to them first and without Carsley, you'll see a dearth of players in the middle. When the versatile Phil Neville isn't starting at right back, you'll likely find him in the holding midfield role. Phil Jagielka will probably get more time in that position this year as well with the fully-healthy Leighton Baines at left back, shifting Joleon Lescott back inside. Leon Osman can play anywhere in the midfield four; he started 10 league games in the center and on the right wing last year and also went out left for another six. The most clutch player in the Premiership, Tim Cahill, occupies the area right behind the strikers but may miss the start of the season due to recovery from surgery to fix a recurring metatarsal problem. Cahill is a sure starter when healthy -- unfortunately, he can't seem to stay fit for any long stretch of time.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Tim Howard

RB: Tony Hibbert
CB: Joseph Yobo
CB: Lescott
LB: Baines

RMF: Arteta
DMF: Neville
DMF: Jagielka
LMF: Pienaar

ST: Yakubu
*ST: Anichebe

*Anichebe's inclusion depends on the fitness of Cahill. If the Australian is ready to start the season, Anichebe will probably be relegated to the bench and Cahill would be inserted into the AMF role, altering the formation slightly to a 4-4-1-1.

Everton could see exactly where they stand as a club after their first 10 games. They'll play teams from all areas of the table -- perennial top four sides Liverpool (home), Arsenal (away), and Manchester United (home), UEFA Cup contenders Blackburn and Portsmouth, both at home, and bottom-feeders West Brom, Stoke City, Hull City, and Bolton, all away. Those opponents provide an accurate cross-section of the league, so where Everton lies in the table after those games should provide a good idea as to where they'll end up.

November brings five manageable (my favorite word these days!) fixtures -- Fulham, @West Ham, Middlesbrough, @Wigan, and @Tottenham. Anything around 10 points in those games would be a solid month for the Toffees. That game against Tottenham is the start of four consecutive difficult matches, as Everton will travel to Manchester City in between home games with Aston Villa and Chelsea.

January has trouble written all over it; Everton plays three games in a row against "Big Four" opposition, starting with the second Merseyside Derby, this one at Anfield, followed by a home date with Arsenal and a visit to Old Trafford to play the two-time defending league champions. Before that mini-stretch is a must-win home game against Hull.

Late March and early April brings the last tough run of matches for Moyes and his men. They'll play four tricky matches in five -- @Portsmouth, Wigan, @Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Manchester City at Goodison Park to finish it up. These games will probably determine whether or not Everton makes into the UEFA Cup again.

Bottom Line: Moyes hasn’t done nearly enough to strengthen this squad in my opinion. They have, in all likelihood, another grueling UEFA Cup run to deal with, and the teams around them (Portsmouth, Villa, Spurs, and Man City) have all improved considerably either through new player acquisition, holdover player development, or a combination of both. I’m not sure who is going to replace Johnson’s goals, and if Cahill isn’t healthy, there’s not much firepower and explosiveness on the team aside from Yakubu. There also isn’t much team speed, and the first team roster is too small. Bringing Moutinho in would be a big help, though, and I think you’ll see Fernandes back at Goodison Park at some point in the year. Even so, I can’t see Everton repeating last year’s finish.

Tomorrow is our first venture into the last European places, 8th and 7th. The countdown to the top continues here, so check it out in the morning.

Premiership Preview--10. West Ham

I think it would come as a surprise to many to know that West Ham, not Middlesbrough, not Aston Villa, not any of the promoted clubs, had the highest average of English players in their starting lineups (6.61/11) in the 2007-2008 Premiership season. That surprise symbolizes a commonly-held feeling towards West Ham from outside those associated with the club in one form or another: apathy.

West Ham is the fourth club in London, behind Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham, and ahead of the likes of Fulham, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Charlton Athletic, and QPR. Their status behind those bigger teams means they’re often overlooked by the masses, and the fact that they haven’t won anything lately like those three have only makes matters worse. West Ham flies under the radar; they’re good for an upset or two every season like we saw last year with Manchester United and Liverpool and the year before with United on the final day of the season, but the fact of the matter is they’re a middling Premiership club in a city with tons of other entertainment options, sporting and non-sporting.

This ignorance is a shame, too, because West Ham has fantastic supporters and, at least in my opinion, one of the best, most charming stadiums in the country. The club fights a constant battle to escape the broad shadows left by their North London rivals and Chelsea in the western part of town. The only thing that will get them more exposure outside of East London is success. Until then, interesting statistics like the one I led this preview with aren’t going to be associated with West Ham, simply because the team itself isn’t one of the first that comes to mind when you’re talking about soccer in England.

West Ham finished 10th last year and had an outside shot at qualifying for the UEFA Cup until the final two months of the season, when they essentially packed it in because there was just no way they could vault the four or five teams necessary to make it into Europe.

Manager Alan Curbishley acquired Swiss international Valon Behrami from Lazio in the Hammers’ only big move so far this summer. I dedicated a post to this signing the day it occurred (July 23) so you can check the archives for more detailed analysis of it, but in brief, bringing the young, versatile winger in was a good move for West Ham. He adds Champions League experience to a club that has tasted nothing positive in European competition in a long while, can play either flank and right back if necessary, and stands out from the plethora of wide midfielders already employed by the team.

A few spare parts have left Upton Park; Nolberto Solano was released by Curbishley as he was excess to requirements after Behrami was signed, Bobby Zamora was likely going to be fourth on the striker’s depth chart with the return from injury of Craig Bellamy, and despite John Paintsil’s quality play at the international level for Ghana, he couldn’t break into the starting lineup at right back for West Ham with Lucas Neill on the roster.

Curbishley lost some depth players and really only added Behrami, but this is one of the deepest first team rosters in the Premiership already, so not much tooling around was necessary. The main issue with West Ham, and it's been a huge problem for the past couple of seasons, is the number of injuries suffered by key players. Bellamy missed most of last year with nagging problems in multiple areas. Kieron Dyer’s right leg was broken in two places in only his second competitive game with the club. Julien Faubert’s ruptured Achilles tendon prevented him from making his first appearance until January 12, and he also was plagued by nagging injuries even after that game. A knee injury to Scott Parker cost him two months in the winter (Dec. 29 - Feb. 23). Freddie Ljungberg missed two weeks in January with a hamstring problem, and the list goes on and on.

When everyone is healthy, which is no guarantee with the players on this team, West Ham’s strongest area is midfield. If you’ll notice, all of the injured players I just mentioned are midfielders, aside from Bellamy, and yet capable replacements like Luis Boa Morte, Lee Bowyer, and Matthew Etherington filled in nicely. Mark Noble and Hayden Mullins are steady in the center of the pitch, and those two should again feature in the middle. Parker is a nice asset to have there as well. There’s never been any question of his ability, it’s just been a matter of staying healthy. Faubert and Dyer are capable on the flanks, though it’ll be interesting to see how much (if at all) their injuries from last season will slow them down in the future.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Robert Green

RB: Neill (captain)
CB: Matthew Upson
CB: Anton Ferdinand
LB: George McCartney

RMF: Behrami
CMF: Mullins
CMF: Noble
LMF: Boa Morte

ST: Dean Ashton
*ST: Bellamy

West Ham opens the season in ridiculously easy fashion with an eight-game stretch that could launch the Hammers near the top of the table if they take care of business like they should. They’ll welcome Wigan, Blackburn, Newcastle, and Bolton to Upton Park while traveling to Manchester City, West Brom, Fulham, and Hull City. Six wins in these games is realistic, and even seven isn’t too daunting given the opponents. This is probably the easiest run of fixtures any Premiership team will see all season — no exaggeration.

The schedule balances out, of course, and West Ham will play Arsenal (home) and Manchester United (away) in a two-day span in late October. Starting in early November and lasting all the way to the turn of the new year, the Hammers will face six clubs competing in Europe this season in a nine-game stretch, including Portsmouth twice, with a game at Sunderland and another against Stoke City in East London over that period as well.

That game with Stoke is the first of four in a row that should be pretty straightforward for West Ham. Three of the four are at home — Stoke, Fulham, Hull — and the other is at Newcastle.

Curbishley’s side then closes out the season with five tough games in six overall, with dates at Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Everton going along with home games against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Remember, West Ham has developed a tendency to play very well against big-name, high-profile opposition and follow up those great performances with absolute duds in games they should win. That long run of matches to begin the season will tell me a lot about this team. If they do well, maybe 5-2-1, 6-2-0, 7-0-1, something like that, I’ll begin to take West Ham much more seriously.

Bottom Line: I just said it — West Ham will set the tone for their whole season with the way they start. If they bottle it in those games, any potential upset over a top team is meaningless to me because it’s just a flash in the pan. The Hammers need to show some consistency, and that starts with staying healthy, the other key to their season. Unfortunately, a lot of the players on this team are prone to getting hurt — Parker and Bellamy chief among them. They have enough quality on the roster to make a push towards Europe, but anything like last year’s injury woes will set them back too far.

Update (08/06): Freddie Ljungberg and West Ham agreed to mutual termination of the player’s contract today, so obviously he won’t be in the starting lineup like I’d originally projected when I wrote this article last night. In his place, I’m moving Behrami over to the right and inserting Luis Boa Morte.

*Update (08/07): Bellamy has just picked up yet another injury and will miss the first few weeks of the season. Insert Carlton Cole into Bellamy’s spot alongside Ashton.

Premiership Preview--11. Blackburn Rovers

In his four-season tenure at Blackburn, Mark Hughes guided the club to three top-10 finishes, including 7th place last year, and two appearances in European competition. He compiled an 82-47-59 record in competitive games over that span, and his team conceded over 50 goals only once. It's fair to say that he turned the fortunes of Blackburn Rovers around after their lean years in the late '90's. Hughes accomplished a lot with a small-market club, making his team very competitive without spending a lot of money to do so.

Hughes moved on, earlier this summer, to a better opportunity at Manchester City, where he'll have a bigger stadium to draw fans and more financial backing from the owner. In his place steps Paul Ince, a standout central midfielder in his playing days at Manchester United, Inter Milan, and Liverpool, among others, as well as England's first black captain. I did a post on Ince in the days after he was first hired by Blackburn, so I'm not going to rehash all the smaller details, but suffice it to say that he's been a successful manager at the lower levels with Macclesfield Town and then MK Dons, winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and League Two with the latter last season.

Ince has never managed above League Two and has only two seasons of experience in the head coaching capacity, so he certainly needs to justify this appointment to lead Blackburn. Soccer is soccer anywhere you go, I understand that, but going from League Two directly to the Premiership is a quantum leap up in quality and remember, Ince isn't exactly working on a large budget.

He came into the job guns-a-blazing, saying he fully intended to keep his best players. While no one is doubting that to be true, money talks, and Ince has already sold star right winger David Bentley to Tottenham for $30 million up front and Brad Friedel, who spent eight seasons at the Lancashire-based club, appearing in 287 league games in the process, to Aston Villa for $4 million.

Along with Roque Santa Cruz, those two were Blackburn's most valuable players a season ago. They combined to start in 75 of a possible 76 league games between them, with Friedel starting all 38 and conceding 48 goals. Bentley tallied 6 goals and 11 assists in the Premiership, the best numbers of his career. Santa Cruz scored 19 times in 36 starts, an impressive goal-to-game ratio, in his début season for Blackburn but without Bentley's set pieces and crossing ability from open play, there's no way the Paraguayan international would've been that prodigious.

Ince has brought in two players to replace Bentley and Friedel. Paul Robinson, formerly England's number one, was acquired from Tottenham for $7 million. How Robinson is worth more than Friedel is beyond me, seeing as the former is so much more error-prone and hesitant in the air. With that said, though, he was still one of the top keepers on the market and Ince had to snap him up. Carlos Villanueva has come to Ewood Park on loan (with an option to make the deal permanent next summer) from Chilean side Audax Italiano and will try to fill the void left by Bentley. Ince tapped into his Old Trafford roots to bring Danny Simpson in, also on loan, who will challenge Steven Reid and Brett Emerton for playing time. Reid is more naturally a central midfielder, but the addition of Johann Vogel late last season has pushed Reid to right back, at least in Blackburn's summer friendlies. Emerton started 25 games at that position last year, but the 21-year-old Simpson is the only pure right back of the three.

Blackburn is strongest in the back, a trademark of Hughes. There are no standouts amongst the back four; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. They're not spectacular by any means, but they're efficient, sturdy, and get the job done. Stephen Warnock has crafted a nice career for himself at left back away from Liverpool, where he was unlikely to ever be first-choice. He's a guy that can get forward and chip in on the attack if needed. At 6'5", Christopher Samba is an intimidating presence for opposing strikers and can win most every aerial challenge in which he's involved. His partner in the center of defense is usually the club captain, Ryan Nelsen, although Andre Ooijer can play there too and may to start the season with Nelsen representing New Zealand in the Olympics, with Aaron Mokoena another candidate to fill in. Zurab Khizanishvili is good cover in case of injury to any of the starters.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Robinson

RB: Reid
CB: Samba
CB: Ooijer
LB: Warnock

RMF: Villanueva
CMF: Vogel
CMF: David Dunn (vice-captain)
LMF: Morten Gamst Pedersen

ST: Santa Cruz
ST: McCarthy

Blackburn starts the season with two road games out of three in August -- at Everton and West Ham -- with a visit from Hull City in between. Two victories in those games would be a successful month for Ince, and it's important he gets off to a good start.

The Pride of Lancashire then welcome Arsenal, Fulham, and Manchester United to Ewood Park, sandwiched around a trip to Newcastle. That's a difficult stretch for Ince and his boys, even with those three home games.

After a home game against Middlesbrough on October 25, Blackburn hits the road for four of their next six matches, including tough games at Aston Villa, Portsmouth, and Tottenham, all participants in European competition this season.

It gets considerably easier after that, though, with an eight-game stretch comprising most of December and all of January in which it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Blackburn to take all 24 available points. Why? Well, the road matches aren't too imposing -- at Wigan, Sunderland, Fulham, and Middlesbrough -- and the home fixtures aren't either -- Stoke City, Manchester City, Newcastle, and Bolton. I don't think Blackburn will win all eight games, though I could see a 6-2-0 record there to push Rovers into the thick of things.

They close out the season against West Brom at home, a game that comes after tough assignments at Man City and at Chelsea with Portsmouth coming to town in between.

Bottom Line: For Ince, anything around 10th place would have to be considered an accomplishment in his first season as a manager in England's top flight. Ince needs to readjust the style and quality of the Premiership after spending the last few years as a player and manager in the lower leagues, where the "hoof-and-chase" kickball approach is often employed. Losing Bentley and Friedel could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it may lower expectations for the club, which is still going to be very competitive.

We'll move into the top half of the table tomorrow, so check back in the morning and early afternoon for the previews.

Premiership Preview--12. Newcastle

When Sam Allardyce left by "mutual consent" in early January, Newcastle turned to a familiar figure to turn the club's fortunes around. I said it then and I'll say it now: Kevin Keegan, who spent over a decade away from St. James Park before returning to take the reins, is a blast from the past and isn't the answer going forward. When the "Geordie Messiah" took over, the club was in 11th place. They finished 12th, just a point ahead of arch-rival Middlesbrough.

Newcastle fans will continue to tell you that because they sell their stadium out for every game and their stadium is one of the largest in the Premiership, they support a "big club". They conveniently fail to tell you, however, that the last time their club won a major trophy of any kind -- and let me make this clear -- was 1955, when they won the FA Cup.

Sorry, but the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup doesn't count, at least not to me. The Intertoto Cup certainly doesn't count because it's not a lone-standing tournament, it leads into something else. The Anglo-Italian Cup doesn't count either, nor do the Kirin or Texaco Cups. To be considered a "big club", you have to win things! It's that simple; you have to win silverware! If you can't win a trophy, at least consistently challenge for one, either in the league or in domestic or continental cup competitions. Newcastle doesn't even do that anymore, so they're nowhere near "big club" status. At one point, they were, but that's no longer the case.

The fact that more than 50,000 fans turn up for every home game to watch a mediocre team is a testament to them, yes, but it doesn't mean the product they're watching can be compared to the likes of the "Big Four" by any stretch of the imagination. They're some of the best fans in the Premiership, but they're gluttons for punishment.

Now that that is over with, let's take a look at this season's edition of the Magpies.

It's been a pretty quiet summer on Tyneside. Keegan has brought in just two players so far, Jonás Gutiérrez and Danny Guthrie, both midfielders, although the permanent acquisition of young French defender Sébastien Bassong from FC Metz should be finalized within the next couple days. Five players have left St. James Park, including right back Stephen Carr and creative, but injury-prone, central midfielder Emre Belözoğlu, who returned home to Turkey to play for Fenerbahçe. All-in-all, the moves in and out have essentially been a wash, with Newcastle not losing much or gaining much.

They are undoubtedly strongest up front, where they have three strikers in Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, and Obafemi Martins who are each capable of scoring 15 goals a season. Newcastle closed the '07-'08 campaign in impressive fashion, going 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, including a seven-match unbeaten streak, to wind up in 12th after failing to win any of their first eight league fixtures under Keegan. It isn't coincidental that that good run of form for Newcastle started when Keegan switched from a 4-4-2 and began playing Martins, Owen, and Viduka all at the same time. Those three lit it up at the end of the season, giving the club's fans some hope heading into the summer and this season.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-3-1-2/4-3-3):
GK: Steve Harper

RB: Habib Beye
CB: Steven Taylor
CB: Abdoulaye Faye
LB: José Enrique

*RMF: Geremi
CMF: Nicky Butt
*LMF: Damien Duff

RF: Viduka
CF: Owen (captain)
LF: Martins

*The wide midfield positions are most up for grabs, and although those are my projected starters, others will see plenty of playing time. James Milner and Gutiérrez will both play on the right. Duff can play on either flank. Charles N'Zogbia is comfortable at both left back and left wing. Even Alan Smith can play anywhere in midfield, but he's used more up front. Joey Barton was played on the left during the club's late-season push, but he'll miss the start of the season due to his incarceration, so look for either Duff or N'Zogbia to open the year there. During that run, Geremi played on the right, and I'm not sure Keegan will mess with what worked. The only sure starter is Butt, who is still a quality defensive midfielder.

Two of Newcastle's first three matches are on the road, which is tough enough as it is, but these are even more difficult as they're at Manchester United and Arsenal. Newcastle was outscored by a combined 8-0 in the corresponding fixtures last season, so an ugly start to this year is highly probable.

If that does come to fruition, Newcastle will get a chance to make it up in September and October. Those months bring home games against Hull City, Blackburn, Manchester City, and West Brom, all winnable, and road trips to West Ham and Everton, which aren't extraordinarily difficult by any means. October 25 is the first of two Tyne-Wear derbies against Sunderland, with this one played at the Stadium of Light.

In an interesting schedule quirk, Newcastle will see West Ham, Blackburn, Man City, and Sunderland (in that order) again in January, and West Brom and Everton in the first two weeks of February. Everyone plays everyone else twice, but it's rare to see the same opponents you played in one long stretch like that at two different times. Usually teams are scrambled up on the schedule and this kind of thing doesn't happen, but it does in this case.

A brutal four-game stretch in March and early April brings matches against Man United, Arsenal, and Chelsea, all at St. James Park, broken up only by a visit to Hull.

Bottom Line: We'll see if Keegan can reignite the flame that propelled Newcastle to that 5-3-2 record to finish last season. His strikers are good, as I mentioned before, but there are question marks at the back aside from Taylor and on the flanks, where it seems to be a case of musical chairs to determine starting spots. If he can push the right buttons again, Newcastle has a chance to be a top-10 team. If not, North East rivals Middlesbrough and Sunderland will be right on their heels, which is unthinkable for Newcastle fans.

Premiership Preview--13. Sunderland

Backed by the loudest supporters in the Premier League last season, measured at average peak volume at 129.2 decibels, almost as loud as a jet, Sunderland will look to improve on last season's respectable 15th-place finish. The Black Cats were the only newly-promoted team to survive in the Premiership, an accomplishment in itself, but manager Roy Keane has made it clear through his summer signings that he wants more from his club.

Keane, the youngest manager in England's top division, has added six players so far, four of whom figure to play right away in some capacity or another, including the trio acquired from Tottenham. Pascal Chimbonda will be the first-choice right back and bring stability to a position in which Keane started six different players last season, four at least eight times. Steed Malbranque can play virtually anywhere in midfield, but will likely feature on the left flank for Sunderland as Ross Wallace was loaned out to Preston North End. Teemu Tainio is another versatile player, capable of playing both full back positions or on either wing, and could be used as quality cover in case of injury. El-Hadji Diouf was signed from Bolton and will play either as Kenwyne Jones' partner up front or on the right wing opposite Malbranque.

Sunderland lost no one of importance; Andy Cole was the biggest name to leave the Stadium of Light, but he started only three games up front and was no higher than fourth on the depth chart at that position. Greg Halford started eight games at right back last season, but was deemed expendable when Chimbonda signed on.

Adding Malbranque, Tainio, and Diouf reinforced Sunderland's strongest asset -- their midfield. Aside from those three, who were just discussed, Carlos Edwards and Kieran Richardson are speedy, capable wide players when healthy, Grant Leadbitter can play any midfield position and is Sunderland through and through, Dwight Yorke brings much-needed leadership and experience to the otherwise-young roster from his central role, Dickson Etuhu is the club's holding player above the back four, and the captain, Dean Whitehead, will play anywhere he's asked to play but is naturally a center midfielder.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Craig Gordon

RB: Chimbonda
CB: Nyron Nosworthy
CB: Danny Higginbotham
LB: Danny Collins

*RMF: Edwards
DMF: Etuhu
CMF: Whitehead (captain)
LMF: Malbranque

*ST: Diouf
ST: Michael Chopra

*This is pending the results of Kenwyne Jones' knee operation. When Jones is healthy, he'll start with Chopra and push Diouf to right wing in place of Edwards.

As we saw last year, this formation isn't rigid and Keane really swaps players in and out of the starting lineup based on their form, especially in the midfield. The four I listed there will change regularly, probably more so than any team I've previewed so far, because the club is deepest in that area. Yorke will play his share of games, especially against the league's better teams, Richardson will get his chances, as will Leadbitter. Keane also employs a 4-5-1 from time to time, in which instance Jones is the lone striker.

Sunderland has their hands full to start the season with three consecutive games against European participants -- home to Liverpool (Champions League), at Tottenham (UEFA Cup), and home against Manchester City (UEFA Cup). After that, they'll see Wigan, host Middlesbrough in the first Tees-Wear Derby of the season, travel to Aston Villa, and welcome Arsenal to the Stadium of Light. Those are seven difficult matches, to say the least, so anything more than seven points would have to be considered a bonus.

Late November and early December brings a stretch of four winnable games in five: Bolton, West Brom, @Hull City, and Blackburn. Those games are interrupted only by Roy Keane's second return to Old Trafford as a manager, which should be entertaining.

January could be a pivotal month for the Black Cats. They'll play two local derbies -- @Middlesbrough to start the month, @Newcastle to end it in the Tyne-Wear fixture -- and host Aston Villa and Fulham in between. All bets are off in those rivalry games, but they really need to win of those and it'd be nice from a Sunderland point of view to win those two matches at home.

They close out the year with home games against Everton and Chelsea, sandwiched around trips to Bolton and Portsmouth. The run-in is another tough month for Keane's scrappy bunch, though they should be safe in the table by then.

Bottom Line: Keane showed me a lot last season, his first as a Premiership manager, and he's only going to get better as the years progress. The club has spent money and added some nice pieces to the roster, which is now significantly deeper than it had been. A lot hinges on the health of Jones; he's their main scoring threat and if he's out for any considerable length of time, they may be in trouble. Playing in front of that boisterous crowd is a huge advantage -- 9 home wins was 8th-most in the league last year -- but they have to improve on the road. With the experience Keane has brought in, I think they will.

We'll move closer to the top half of the table tomorrow as the countdown continues with places 12 and 11.

Premiership Preview--14. Middlesbrough

According to the BBC in an online article published in December of last year, Middlesbrough's youth academy has produced the most graduates (9) eligible to represent England at international level and start in at least five senior games for the club since the 2002-2003 season, including Stewart Downing, Lee Cattermole (now at Wigan), David Wheater, Stuart Parnaby (now at Birmingham City), Andrew Taylor, and Adam Johnson. Lesser-known but still young players like Jonathan Grounds, Josh Walker, and Seb Hines also came from the academy, and they too seem to have a future with The Boro.

Despite this success at youth level, where they also lost in the 2003 FA Youth Cup final and then won the competition the next year, Middlesbrough's first team has struggled to get out of the bottom half of the Premiership -- they've done so only twice in the last 10 seasons, with a 7th-place finish their highest in England's top flight since 1974-75. Boro lost to Juande Ramos' Sevilla side in the 2005-2006 UEFA Cup final and appeared in the Round of 16 the season before, but those are the two bright spots in a decade of mediocrity.

Gareth Southgate is entering his third season as manager after spending the previous five seasons as a player at the Riverside. He's led the club to 12th and 13th place in his first two seasons, respectively, and compiled an overall record of 27-29-36 during that time. All-in-all, the second-youngest manager in the Premiership at 37 years of age has done a decent job, but he understands that Middlesbrough fans want to see their club make a jump up into the top ten within the next couple years.

To that end, Southgate has brought in two solid signings -- Didier Digard, a young French midfielder, from PSG, and Marvin Emnes, a pacey 20-year-old winger/striker who was the 2007-08 Fans' Player of the Year at Sparta Rotterdam. Emnes may play right away on the right flank opposite Downing, and Digard should replace George Boateng, who left for Hull City, in the holding role.

Southgate has made it clear that he wants to rebuild at Middlesbrough and usher in a youth movement. He wants to bring more energy and exuberance into the club, which you'll see with Digard and Emnes. He let Boateng go as the player doesn't fit this mold, allowed Boro's long-time goalkeeper, 37-year-old Mark Schwarzer, to leave for Fulham on a free transfer, and released Fábio Rochemback. I'm not sure if he wanted to sell Cattermole, who Southgate handed the captain's armband to for a game when Cattermole was only 19, but may have felt the offer from Wigan was too good to pass up. He essentially just swapped Cattermole for Digard, a great tackler, and only paid a net cost of $1 million to do so.

The interesting thing about Boro is, unlike any of the teams I've previewed so far, they don't have one group (goalie/defense, midfield, forwards) that stands out visibly above the other two or is obviously weaker than the other two -- all three are consistent.

The back four is sturdy with Emanuel Pogatetz and David Wheater as the anchors in the middle, though Pogatetz is a natural left back and Robert Huth can play alongside Wheater if preferred. The midfield is good with Downing, Digard, Julio Arca, and either Gary O'Neil, Enmes, or even Jérémie Aliadière, who would rather play up top, wide right. The combination of Afonso Alves and Tuncay up front blossomed at the end of the season. Aliadière is a viable strike option as well, and Mido isn't bad off the bench.

Many players on the roster can play multiple positions, so Southgate can mix and match until he settles on some combination he really likes. He's not locked into playing the same formation with the same players on a weekly basis, which is a huge advantage for a manager.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
*GK: Brad Jones

**RB: Luke Young
CB: Wheater
CB: Pogatetz
LB: Taylor

RMF: O'Neil
DMF: Digard
CMF: Arca
LMF: Downing

ST: Tuncay
ST: Alves

*Schwarzer's departure has left the starting keeper's job wide open, with some speculating that Jones, last year's backup, will go between the sticks, and others saying Southgate will go out and buy a proven number one. Because Jones is currently the best option, he's my projected starter, but I wouldn't be surprised if Southgate did acquire another keeper.

**With Young's move to Aston Villa today, Middlesbrough doesn't have anyone on their first team roster at present who started a league game at right back last season. It's unclear, then, who would start, but it obviously won't be Young.

Middlesbrough should get off to a decent start, with winnable home games against Tottenham, Stoke, and West Brom amongst their opening six matches. The first of two Tees-Wear derbies comes at Sunderland on September 20. Nine total goals were scored in the corresponding games last season, so that should be a good one to watch.

November brings home games against West Ham, Bolton, and Newcastle in a Tyne-Tees derby affair. Middlesbrough would love nine points from those fixtures as their other two that month come at Aston Villa and at Everton, where Boro certainly won't be favored.

Arsenal comes to the Riverside on December 13 and in the same game last year, Boro pulled off a thrilling 2-1 victory. A potentially difficult month with that match, a visit to Old Trafford, and a home game against Everton could be made better with road victories at Hull City and Fulham.

Southgate's club finishes the season in style as they'll see Arsenal, Manchester United, and Newcastle in three consecutive weeks, followed a home game with Villa and a trip to East London to play West Ham to end the campaign. Remember, Middlesbrough is usually simply playing out the string in March or April -- they seem to be condemned to another middling finish by then and have little motivation or anything to play for -- but that won't be the case this year with that kind of opposition awaiting them.

Bottom Line: This team is being built for the future, and success usually comes only through growing pains. That's what this season probably will be for Middlesbrough fans, because while they're decent in all facets of the game, they haven't broken through to being very good in any. It takes time and experience to do that, things that many of Boro's players don't have at the Premiership level. They have obvious upside and could definitely be a team to watch going forward, but for this year, it'll be another bottom-half finish.

Premiership Preview--15. Wigan Athletic

They play some of the ugliest soccer in the Premiership. Their field surface is undoubtedly the worst in the Premiership and sits in one of the league’s smallest stadiums, which is also shared with a rugby club. They have no star players to speak of, and are run by a 71-year-old chairman with questionable financial savvy, to say the least. With all that said, Wigan Athletic continues to surprise outsiders by surviving in England’s top flight, and will look to do for a fourth consecutive season after finishing 14th last year with 40 points.

Steve Bruce is a very underrated manager who has crafted a nice career for himself in taking, and I mean no offense here, low-profile, low-prestige teams (Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town, Wigan, Crystal Palace, and Birmingham City) and exceeding expectations. He’s had to work for everything he’s achieved, starting in the Championship and eventually working his way up to the Premiership.

Without his rearrival at Wigan after leaving Birmingham late last November, the Latics would’ve been relegated. They were moving in reverse under Chris Hutchings, and Bruce proved to be the master of the 0-0 draw and 1-0 victory. His club went unbeaten in five of their last six games a season ago, and had another unbeaten stretch of four games prior to that.

Because of Wigan’s location — they’re based in suburban Manchester, where they fly under the radar and are overshadowed by United, City, and even Blackburn — and unattractive style of play, Bruce didn’t get a lot of credit for the job he did, but he’s a capable manager and the club is in good hands with him at the helm. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not the type of guy who can win you something, but he’s a survivor and a fighter and his players take on their manager’s approach.

Bruce doesn’t have much of a transfer budget to work with; he’s bought Olivier Kapo, a talented attacking midfielder he had at Birmingham last year, and Lee Cattermole from Middlesbrough, but he’s sold a few spare parts to do so (Andreas Granqvist, Julius Aghahowa, and Andy Webster) and often uses loan deals, as he did with striker Amr Zaky from Egyptian side Zamalek, and free transfers to bring in players. Cattermole and Kapo will both see plenty of playing time in midfield, if not start, while none of the departed players had a role of any real significance. Zaky will replace Marcus Bent as Emile Heskey’s partner up front.

Especially now with those two on board, midfield is Wigan’s strongest asset. Michael Brown is one of the dirtiest players in England but can be a solid central midfielder when his mind is right. Wilson Palacios was one of last summer’s best signings and fellow Spanish-speaker Antonio Valencia can play on either wing and is good on both. Jason Koumas can make plays from the right side and provide a spark off the bench when called upon. Kevin Kilbane played mostly at left back last year as the club struggled to find a replacement for Leighton Baines, but is a natural left-sided midfielder. Antoine Sibierski is still useful as an attacking midfielder and will provide valuable depth behind Kapo. Dutchman Daniël de Ridder, another summer signing, is another versatile player like Valencia. The once-extremely promising career of Ryan Taylor has been curtailed by injury problems, but he’s a terrific set piece taker and can play right wing and right back.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Chris Kirkland

RB: Mario Melchiot (captain)
CB: Emmerson Boyce
CB: Paul Scharner
LB: Kilbane

RMF: Valencia
CMF: Cattermole
AMF: Palacios
LMF: Kapo

ST: Heskey
ST: Zaky

Out of teams 11-20 last year, Wigan had the best defensive record with only 51 goals conceded. They’ll be in every game, home and away, but they need to get over the hump on the road and pick up some more points there to avoid another relegation fight.

January is the toughest month on Wigan’s schedule, with away dates at Manchester City and Aston Villa and home games against Tottenham and Liverpool.

Bruce’s boys will welcome Arsenal and Manchester United to the JJB Stadium in successive weeks in the middle of April before closing the season out with five manageable games, three of which are certainly winnable (Bolton, @ West Brom, @ Stoke).

Aside from January, there is no difficult stretch of any length, but there isn’t an easy patch either. This team likely won’t have much consistency over the course of the year; you’re not going to see any long winning streaks and you also likely won’t see them fail to pick up points in a three or four-game span.

Bottom Line: Steve Bruce is as experienced as they come in leading this type of team. Having been one himself, and a successful one at that with Manchester United, he’s a player’s manager and doesn’t have large egos to tread carefully around. Wigan won’t get blown out too often, and they won’t pound anyone into the ground either. You may not be happy with the brand of soccer Wigan plays under Bruce, but it’s effective, and it will keep you in the Premiership for another year.

Tomorrow we move closer to the middle of the table with places 14 and 13, where the threat of relegation shouldn’t be a problem.

Premiership Preview--16. Fulham

Fulham's "Great Escape" was one of the best stories of the '07-'08 Premiership season. The Cottagers looked down and out so many times, so close to the end of the year, but a shocking 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Manchester City was the first of three consecutive triumphs and the second of four in five games that vaulted Fulham from certain relegation to safety for another year. Master midfield playmaker and set-piece taker extraordinare Jimmy Bullard, American target man Brian McBride, and manager Roy Hodgson worked their magic in West London, and while McBride has come home to Chicago to play in MLS, the other two remain.

No Premiership club has been as active this summer as Fulham. Eight players have come to Craven Cottage so far while 14 others have packed their bags and headed elsewhere, either through release or transfer. The player movement has been overwhelmingly positive for Fulham; they've acquired no fewer than three starters -- goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from Middlesbrough and striker Bobby Zamora will certainly feature, and either John Paintsil (West Ham) or Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg) will play right back -- and lost just one in McBride. They've also added some quality midfield depth in Andranik Teymourian from Bolton and Zoltán Gera from West Brom just in case the injury-prone Bullard goes down again. When I say no one of importance or Premiership ability has left (except McBride and perhaps Kasey Keller), I mean no one. Hodgson has gotten rid of the dead weight to make this a more complete, sturdy team.

The midfield group carried Fulham to safety on its collective back. The previously-mentioned Bullard is the team's on and off-field leader, even though center back Brede Hangeland wears the captain's armband, as well as a terrific player right in the center of the pitch. Clint Dempsey has the highest work rate on the team and can run all day from any midfield position or up front, Simon Davies brings much-needed pace and crossing ability to the right wing, and Danny Murphy's high-level experience from his days at Liverpool, cool demeanor, and propensity for clutch play can't be undervalued. There is solid depth here now too; not just Andranik and Gera, but Leon Andreasen and Alexey Smertin when the latter is healthy. The only thing lacking is an out-and-out left winger, and the group as a whole doesn't have much speed.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Schwarzer

RB: Paintsil
CB: Hangeland (captain)
CB: Aaron Hughes
LB: Paul Konchesky

RMF: Davies
CMF: Bullard
CMF: Murphy
LMF: Dempsey

ST: Zamora
ST: Andy Johnson

Last year was a disppointing one for Fulham at home, where they went just 5-5-9 after a 7-7-5 campaign in '06-'07 and an impressive 13-2-4 the year before. Craven Cottage is a more difficult environment to play in for visitors than that 5-5-9 shows, so especially with a better team this go-around, expect Fulham to be closer to somewhere in between those other two records. Even if they don't play well at all on the road, a better mark at home will keep Fulham in the Premiership for another year.

The first month of the season brings back-to-back games against Arsenal and at Manchester United, but before those fixtures lies opening day at Hull City. We saw lowly Derby outplay Portsmouth and be unfortunate to only get a draw when those two squared off at Pride Park to kickoff the '07-'08 season, so Fulham will need to be wary against Hull.

October is a manageable month; the Cottagers should take six points against Sunderland and Wigan at home and possibly steal another victory at West Brom or Portsouth.

November brings the most difficult run of games of the season with Everton, Liverpool, and Aston Villa all away, with Newcastle and Spurs at home after the Everton match.

Christmas and New Year's will be celebrated in style in London as Fulham hosts Chelsea in the West London Derby on December 28, just two days after a trip to North London rivals Tottenham.

To finish out the year, Fulham has four difficult games and would love to have secured safety already. They're not going to get much, if anything, at Chelsea or Newcastle, and it'll be just as tough against Villa and Everton at home.

Bottom Line: It's no secret that Roy Hodgson is not a master tactician or specialist with the X's and O's, but he's a good motivator and the players love working for him. He should be able to coax enough out of this roster, one that he's clearly strengthened this summer, to stay in the Premiership, and it wouldn't surprise me if Fulham was able to sneak up a spot or two in the table. After the way they finished last year, nothing is impossible.

Premiership Preview--17. Bolton Wanderers

For everyone outside of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal, success in the Premiership can be fickle. We saw it last year with Tottenham, who wound up an extremely disappointing 11th after two straight 5th-place finishes. We saw it last year with Reading, a club that was relegated a season after finishing comfortably in 8th place.

Bolton is a perfect example of this. In 2004-2005, Sam Allardyce led the suburban Manchester side to 6th and a UEFA Cup berth the next year. The Trotters ended the '05'06 campaign in 8th, narrowly missing out on Europe, but fought their way back into the UEFA Cup last season through a 7th-place finish in 2006-2007. They reached the Round of 16 in Europe's second-tier club competition, but only narrowly avoided relegtion from the Premiership as the sale of star striker Nicolas Anelka in January and the resignation of Allardyce at the end of the '06-'07 season crippled the team. The three consistent, top-half finishes were great for Bolton fans, but would've been little consolation if their team had finished with just two points fewer than what they'd earned.

Bolton has the dubious distinction of being the club who has spent the most seasons in the Premiership/First Division without ever winning the title (69). That isn't going to change this year either, and Gary Megson has spent more than $30 million, a relatively large amount of money for a small club like Bolton, on only three players, all of whom will likely be starters. With that said, Johan Elmander was the biggest splash in terms of name-recognition, and he's only slightly above average at best.

Fabrice Muamba brings some youth and exuberance to an aging Bolton midfield, which, to be fair, was made younger this summer with the release of Stelios Giannakopolus and Ivan Campo, both of whom are well past their prime playing days. Muamba is a quality young defensive midfielder and will feature immediately, as will Elmander, who was signed from Toulouse for a reported $20 million in a swap deal that saw Daniel Braaten go the other way. Elmander has a decent goalscoring record for Sweden and is coming off a good season in France, but based on what he's shown in the past, Bolton clearly overpaid for him. Riga Mustapha just signed from Levante, where he scored roughly a goal every five games, and his pace will be a welcome addition to Bolton's wings.

As mentioned earlier, the subtractions of Giannakopolus and Campo are no big losses to Bolton on the field, although both provided experience and leadership. El-Hadji Diouf, arguably Bolton's most dangerous player last year after Nicholas Anelka, was sold to Sunderland. He has a reputation for being a bit of a cancer in the dressing room at times, but there's no denying his natural ability and Bolton will miss what he does out there.

Muamba further reinforces the midfield, by far the strongest area of Bolton's squad. He'll sit in a holding role and allow Kevin Nolan to push further up the field as he likes to do. Matty Taylor mans the left wing after spending several years as an attacking left back at Portsmouth, and Mustapha will slide into Diouf's role on the right. Gavin McCann will occupy the space ahead of Muamba and behind Nolan, where his noted lack of foot-speed can be protected from exploitation, when Bolton plays a 4-5-1, which they'll do fairly often. The versatile Ricardo Gardner will get his share of playing time, likely swapping in and out with Taylor depending on the form of both players, and also at left back, where he's ahead of Jlloyd Samuel. Young Swiss international Blerim Džemaili should return from a severe knee injury and compete with Joey O'Brien for a backup role behind McCann.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Jussi Jääskeläinen

RB: Grétar Steinsson
CB: Andy O'Brien
CB: Gary Cahill
LB: Ricardo Gardner

RMF: Mustapha
DMF: Muamba
AMF: Nolan (captain)
LMF: Taylor

ST: Kevin Davies
ST: Elmander

Bolton desperately needs to improve their play away from the Reebok Stadium; they had the worst road record of any of the 17 teams not relegated last year with a 2-5-12 mark and -23 goal differential. They weren't really competitive on their travels, and that may not change to start the new season as their first five road games are at difficult venues -- St. James' Park (Newcastle), Craven Cottage (Fulham), Old Trafford (Manchester United), Upton Park (West Ham), and White Hart Lane (Tottenham). You never know what you're going to get on any given day from Newcastle, West Ham, and Fulham, but Bolton still will need to bring their best game to pick up valuable points.

December is their toughest month, with games against Chelsea, @Aston Villa, Portsmouth, and @Liverpool all in a 20-day span. It doesn't get much easier in January as Bolton will visit Blackburn and Arsenal and play host to Manchester United and Tottenham before traveling to Everton in the first weekend of February. I could honestly see Bolton failing to win even one of those nine games, so it's critical they take advantage of a relatively easy slate in March (@Stoke, Fulham, @West Brom) and finish the year strong in May when Sunderland and Hull come to town. Also in May, Bolton will go to Wigan and Manchester City, both manageable games.

Bottom Line: You're going to see a Jekyll-and-Hyde Bolton team based on this schedule, which is excrutiatingly difficult for stretches and very forgiving in others. As long as they get the job done when they're supposed to, I think Bolton will be OK, but they can't afford to drop many points because West Brom will be nipping at their heels all year long. The key for Megson will be finding someone to score goals. Davies and Nolan combined for only 9 in the league last season, and that total needs to improve by 4 or 5.

Tomorrow brings 16th and 15th places to the forefront. Last year, that was the thick of the relegation fight. This year, I'm not so sure if that'll be the case..

Premierhip Preview--18. West Bromwich Albion

After two years in the Coca-Cola Championship, West Brom returns to the top flight of English soccer as the team best primed to make a run at survival amongst their fellow promotees. Tony Mowbray's club made a surprising appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals last year before being knocked out by Portsmouth, the eventual winner of the competition.

The Baggies have shown that they're going all-in towards staying in the Premiership, spending a combined $27.6 million on players so far this summer already. That sum has been offset considerably by the $18-20 million sale of Curtis Davies to bitter rival Aston Villa, but the fact that Mowbray and club chairman Jeremy Peace, who had been willing to sell his shares in the club to potential new investors not long ago, are aggresively pursuing extra reinforcements for the '08-'09 campaign is a very good sign.

WBA has won one, count 'em, one, Premiership/First Division title in their long history, and that was way back in 1919-1920. While this team clearly isn't in a position to make a title challenge any time soon, the fans are hungry for success at the highest level. To try and bring about that success, Mowbray has added some nice pieces to the squad that finished atop the Championship with 81 points last year.

After a terrific season in between the sticks at UEFA Cup participants Aston Villa on loan from Liverpool, Scott Carson has moved permanently to The Hawthorns and will take the starting job from Dean Kiely. Marek Čech played in the Champions League for FC Porto last year and can play as an attack-minded left back or at left midfield; either way, the Slovakian international is a sure starter for the Baggies. The club hopes right back Gianni Zuiverloon's impressive U-21 record for Holland -- he was named to the UEFA Team of the Tournament in the 2007 Under-21 European Championship and has made 17 appearances at that level -- will carry over to the Premiership. Luke Moore also came over from Aston Villa, and the striker has plenty of pace to burn.

West Brom did, however, lose two important players from last year's roster and a valuable extra piece. Despite missing six weeks with a knee injury, the well-traveled Kevin Phillips scored 22 goals in 35 league games (29 starts), good for a tie for second-most in the Championship, and was the club's Player of the Year as well as a part of the PFA Championship Team of the Year. He turned down a 1-year contract offer from WBA with an added year kicked in automatically if he appeared in 19 league fixtures to join Birmingham City for two years guaranteed.

Zoltán Gera played in 43 league games (33 starts) and contributed 8 goals and 7 assists from his attacking midfield position, but the Hungarian international also turned down a contract offer and instead joined Fulham on a free transfer.

Martin Albrechtsen can play anywhere in the back four; he probably isn't good enough to be a regular starter but his versatility allowed him to start 28 games last season. He left for Derby on a free transfer as he, too, couldn't agree to a new deal with West Brom.

Tony Mowbray's team played the "best soccer" in the Championship; his attacking, free-flowing, passing style was a change from the usual "hoof and chase" kickball mentality that has become famous in England's lower levels and with the national team, at least to a certain extent. It seems unlikely that West Brom will be able to continue playing that way against the big boys and be successful -- West Brom overmatched Championship teams, but they don't have the talent and quality to go toe-to-toe with many Premiership sides.

With the losses of Gera and Phillips, Tony Mowbray's strongest asset now becomes his defense with than his front line. Zuiverloon (right) and Čech (left) have the inside tracks to occupy the full-back positions, although Paul Robinson, who joined Phillips and club captain Jonathan Greening on that PFA Team of the Year, will give Čech some competition and Carl Hoefkins will do the same for Zuiverloon after the two incumbents both started over 40 games a season ago. Leon Barnett is a good young center back at 22 years of age, and Neil Clement could partner him in the heart of the back line. Robinson can also play center back if necessary, so look for him to get his share of games there alongside Barnett as well.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Carson

*RB: Zuiverloon
CB: Barnett
CB: Clement
LB: Čech

RMF: James Morrison
CMF: Jonathan Greening (captain)
AMF: Robert Koren
LMF: Kim Do-Heon

ST: Ishmael Miller
ST: Roman Bednář

*Zuiverloon will miss the start of the season as he's part of Holland's Olympic squad, but should start when he comes back unless Hoefkins fills in brilliantly.

After opening up at Arsenal, WBA doesn't see another "Big Four" team until October 18, when they visit Old Trafford and the two-time defending league champions. Also in October, though, they have three winnable games -- Fulham, Hull City, and @Newcastle. Back-to-back games against Liverpool (away) and Chelsea (home) come in the middle of November, followed by consecutive road games at Stoke City and Wigan.

The Baggies could either be doomed for relegation or saved from the drop in their final five-match stretch, which sees them hosting Sunderland, Wigan, and Liverpool, and making trips to Tottenham and Blackburn. That run-in isn't terribly difficult, but unless they take points from four of those games, winning at least two in the process, Tony Mowbray's club may be destined for a return to the Championship.

Bottom Line: West Brom can be exposed on the wings, particularly their left side, and their starting center backs aren't tall enough to win aerial challenges with or hold off big, strong center forwards like John Carew, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kenwyne Jones, Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov, Roque Santa Cruz, Dean Ashton, and others. Their attacking style leaves them susceptible to being caught-out, and in the Premier League, one defensive lapse and the ball is in the back of the net. They're better than Hull City and Stoke City, but I don't think they're better over the long haul than teams like Fulham, Bolton, and Sunderland. It'll be close, but the Baggies are going down.