Tuesday, August 12, 2003

IT'S FOOTIE TIME! PART 1

Here's your FREE pull-out Premiership preview courtesy of I am a Donut.

The coming Premiership season poses an onion bag full of questions. Man Utd after Beckham? Will Chelski blend into championship material? Leeds: how worse can it get? Who's "too good to be relegated" (see Leicester City)?

What about the biggest question of them all? When will the edifice come tumbling down? Despite the £1 billion TV deal for 2004-7, there is still a financial crisis in the game. Red Rom's amazing entry into the scene with Chelsea and the £75 million in transfer fees has made the close season exciting, but has he done other clubs a disservice by inflating the market?

If I were a Chelsea supporter I'd be on Cloud Nine. The club certainly look primed for an honour or two. For too many clubs, even in the Premiership, it's all about survival. Even the likes of Spurs and Everton, until recently considered amongst the rich, are struggling to keep up. The danger for any midtable club is the threat of relegation. I'm sure that supporters watching the ever disappearing West Ham this season will have to do so through tears. So near, yet so far last season. Now the wolf is at the door.

On the other hand, teams at the top can't afford to miss out on the Champions League. It's too expensive for some to keep up at the top and, at the same time, too expensive to miss out on Europe. See Leeds.

More on the state of the game and the Donut's suggestions later.

Okay, on to the prognostications. Starting in no particular order with teams from the Midlands. Whatever happened to those great Midlands teams of past? Forest, Derby, er Derby again, er Forest...

Birmingham City
The Big Question: Will Steve Bruce's head explode or will Robbie Savage spontaneously combust?
The Big Answer: Either way Savage will be suspended before Christmas.
Movers and Shakers: In comes David Dunn, the lesser of the Blackburn exodus.
In depth analysis (i.e. a load of opinionated bollocks): Dunn and Savage form an explosive midfield. Unusually for a porn related industry - not much up front.
Route 1, Push and Run or Just dumb?: Grrrrrrr!
Good enough for the Champions League? Too good to be relegated? Or just plain no good?: Fighting the Villa for Second City bragging rights. Maybe a gritty cup run.

Aston Villa
The Big Question: Are the rumours of a Venezuelan takeover real?
The Big Answer: Deadly Doug will still be there.
Movers and Shakers:
Turnip Taylor has gone. O'Leary (Leeds baggage and all) arrives. Villa have picked up a few deadbeats from relegated Sunderland.
In depth analysis (i.e. a load of opinionated bollocks): Villa have always struck me as a pretty inoffensive team. They never seem to do much. Taylor's last turn as a manager threatened to make them totally invisible without getting in harm's way. Is O'Leary as a good coach as his time at Leeds indicated?
Route 1, Push and Run or Just dumb?: Huff and puff.
Good enough for the Champions League? Too good to be relegated? Or just plain no good?: A long shot for honours, but probably safe if unexciting.

Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Big Question: Will Sir Jack Hayward live to see his team relegated?
The Big Answer: Depends.
Movers and Shakers: In come a whole load of players with lots of consonants, plus Jody Craddock.
In depth analysis (i.e. a load of opinionated bollocks): The ageless Paul Ince (slightly younger than Sir Jack) still plies it in midfield. A few intriguing buys - Okoronkwo and Spurs' castoff, Iversen - might add entertainment.
Route 1, Push and Run or Just dumb?: Like their Midland rivals - lightweight in attack.
Good enough for the Champions League? Too good to be relegated? Or just plain no good?: Could be West Brom for 2003/04 or might do a Bolton.

Leicester City
The Big Question: Too Good to be Relegated?
The Big Answer: No.
Movers and Shakers: Sir Les from Spurs via the Irons, plus lots of other bit players with Premiership experience. Even the boy Lin-ay-ker can't save them.
In depth analysis (i.e. a load of opinionated bollocks): Micky Adams hoping that because all the players have Premiership experience ergo this is a Premiership side.
Route 1, Push and Run or Just dumb?: Stylish, i.e. Too Good to be Relegated.
Good enough for the Champions League? Too good to be relegated? Or just plain no good?: Too Good to be Relegated.

:: Posted by pete @ 07:28