Season Summaries--10. West Ham

10. West Ham (My preseason prediction: 12th)

You have to be impressed with the job manager Alan Curbishley has done with West Ham this season, especially considering the fact that the lineups he's had to put on the field essentially consist of second-stringers due to all the injuries suffered by the players who would normally be starting or playing significant minutes (Kieron Dyer, Scott Parker, Julien Faubert, Calum Davenport, Bobby Zamora, Freddie Ljungberg, Nolberto Solano, etc.).

West Ham are one of only 7 Premiership teams to have a winning record away from home (3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses), although to be fair, the wins came against Derby, Birmingham, and Reading, none of which are in the top half of the table. The Hammers have also advanced to the Round of 8 in the Carling Cup, but again, none of their previous three wins in that competition came against Premiership clubs (Bristol Rovers, Plymouth, Coventry City). All of this being said, you can only do well against the schedule that's in front of you, and it's not West Ham's fault they've been drawn against lower league sides in the Carling Cup or had a particularly difficult road schedule to this point. Trips to Chelsea and Blackburn make up their first two games of December, followed by their quarterfinal Carling Cup match against Everton (at Upton Park). The East London club have had a pretty nice start to their season and will look to keep it going into December, where the packed holiday schedule brings 6 league games and the aforementioned Carling Cup match. Will West Ham's paper-thin depth be exposed? We'll see.

Season Summaries--11. Newcastle

11. Newcastle (My preseason prediction: 14th)

The jury is still out on this year's version of one of the perennial underachievers in English soccer. For a team who believe themselves to be one of the major clubs in England, they haven't won anything in recent years to back their claim up and this season looks to be no different.

Are Newcastle more like the team who opened the season unbeaten in their first four league games or the team who's won just two matches in their last 7 played? Games against Liverpool, Blackburn, and Arsenal (Liverpool and Arsenal at home) in the next three weeks will prove to be telling for the Magpies and manager Sam Allardyce.

It's inexcusable that Nigerian star striker Obafemi Martins has started just 7 league games this year, the same number as the oft-and-currently injured Michael Owen and the lazy player that is Mark Viduka. Martins has scored a team-leading 4 goals in those 7 games (and 5 appearances off the bench), while Owen has just a pair and Viduka three tallies. There is talk that Martins will leave in the January transfer window and Newcastle may look to offload him, especially if he has a breakout performance at the African Cup of Nations and they can get a larger fee for him. Joey Barton should probably be in jail right now, Cacapa's nightmare of a game against Portsmouth on November 3rd (4-1 loss) has undoubtedly wrecked his confidence, and Nicky Butt isn't getting any younger. As I said before, Newcastle's next three games will show just what kind of team Sam Allardyce has and results will be critical for the Magpies.