Pre-Season Predictions: League One

Last season saw some big clubs promoted from League One as Brighton, Southampton and Peterborough all secured promotion from England's third tier. The League One campaign was also successful for surprise packages Leyton Orient, Exeter and Bournemouth who all exceeded pre-season expectations by finishing in the top half. So what can we expect this time around?

There is no doubt that this season's League One will include some of the biggest names in English football, the most notable being both Sheffield sides, Wednesday and United who will play in England's third tier together for the first time. Other sides such as Huddersfield, Charlton (below) and Tranmere all have previous Premier League history and will no doubt believe they should be playing a higher level.

For me the promotion favorites will be last season beaten Play-Off finalists Huddersfield Town. The Terriers have a superb manager in place in the shape of Lee Clarke (former Newcastle midfielder) and with the likes of Danny Cadermateri and Anthony Kay already in their squad and the signings of Liam Cooper from Hull and Oscar Gobern from Southampton, you would expect Clarke's men to be in the running again.

I would also expect to see both the Sheffield clubs fighting out at the top, the fact that Danny Wilson (former Wednesday manager) was appointed manager of Sheffield United after the end of last season just adds to an already intriguing battle at the heart of Yorkshire.

Every year each divisions seems to have a surprise package and this years I think will be Chesterfield. After gaining promotion from League Two last season, momentum will be strong and morale still high in the camp, they also have an excellent record still at their new home 'B2 Net stadium'.

The relegation race from League One will be tight and I think my predictions for the drop will cause a bit of a shock. The first club I see falling through the trapdoor is Scunthorpe United. After being relegated from the Championship last season I think boss Alan Knill will have a job to keep his side from suffering a double relegation in two seasons.

Other clubs I can see struggling this season include last seasons surprise package Leyton Orient as well as others such as Yeovil, Stevanage, Notts County and Rochdale.

Predictions for League One 2011/2012 season:

Champions: Huddersfield Town

Promoted: Charlton Athletic

Play-offs: Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd, Carlisle, Colchester

Relegated: Scunthorpe, Rochdale, Stevenage, Yeovil

What do you think? Do you agree? How would you feel if your club appointed a former boss of a fierce rival as Sheffield United have done?

As always let me know.

Pre-Season Predictions: Championship

It is often said that the Championship is one of the hardest divisions to get promoted from. One thing that cannot be argued with though is that it is the most lucrative division to escape, with the riches of Premier league football awaiting the three sides lucky enough to do so.

So who will be the front runners in the 2011-2012 season?

This years Championship line up could in fact be the strongest ever as England's second tier will boast the likes of West Ham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Southampton, B

righton and Leicester.

Realistically it would be difficult to predict who will finish top, second or even in the top half for that matter, but here I am going to take a look at the front runners who should be challenging at the summit come next May.

Firstly I will start with last seasons beaten Play-Off finalists Reading. After a late surge towards the end of last season, Brian McDermott's men forces their way into the play-offs where they lost to Swansea at Wembley 4-2 in an enthralling game believed to be worth £90 Million to the winners. Despite missing out on promotion, the Royals will know th

at if they can keep hold of hotshot Shane Long then another crack at promotion should be on the cards.

West Ham, Birmingham and Blackpool will all have access to their parachute payments after being relegated from the top flight in May. West Ham and Birmingham both have new managers in place for the new term in Sam Allardyce and Chris Hughton, the latter of course guided Newcastle straight back up to the Premier League the season before last after their relegation 3 years ago and Brum supporters will be hoping for the same.

Another club with new management in charge are Nottingham Forest after they appointed former England flop Steve McLaren who will be looking for a successful return to management in England with a club that has potential to return to the big time, boosted by the return of legend midfielder Andy Reid from Sunderland.

Many will argue that the favorites to make a return to the Premier League are big spending Leicester City, managed by another former England boss, Sven Goran-Eriksson. The foxes this week secured a £5 Million pound deal to bring Reading defender Matt Mills to the club.

We can also expect sides such as Southampton, Brighton who have recently acquired the services of free scoring striker Craig Mackail-Smith from Peterborough, Middlesborough and Ipswich to mount challenges for one of the four available play-off places.

The relegation battle looks as tough as the promotion one with no side looking incapable of steering clear of the dreaded drop. Last season saw Preston, Sheffield United and Scunthorpe slip into League One, an example that no one is safe in this division.

The obvious concerns will be there for Watford after they lost the services of manager Malky Mackay (Cardiff), Don Cowie (Cardiff) and top goal scorer last season Danny Graham (Swansea). The Hornets have little money to spend despite the sales and after appointing Sean Dyche as their new manager despite no experience, the future seems bleak.

Other sides we can expect to see at the lower end of the division include Barnsley, Derby and Doncaster, again mainly based on the money these sides have to strengthen their squads.

It's going to be another epic season of Championship football and one that will be a roller coaster journey for fans of the Championship sides.

Do you agree? As always let me know what you think? What would your realistic ambitions be for your club?

Pre-Season Predictions: Premier League

This week has seen the majority of all 92 football league clubs return to pre-season training in preparation of what is set to be another pulsating 9 months of football starting in just over four weeks time.

Where better than to start my pre-season predictions than the Premier League. Don't panic though if your side are not in the glamorous Premiership, as in the next few days I will be sharing my predictions with you all on the Championship and Leagues One and Two.

But first, the 2010/2011 season saw Manchester United secure a record breaking 19th League Title, overtaking Liverpool as the most successful club in England, meanwhile Liverpool saw the return of King Kenny (Dalglish) to their hot-seat, 21 years after vacating it originally, Arsenal's season collapsed quicker than a Jenga tower, while Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham all slipped through the trapdoor and were relegated to the second tier of English football.

So what can we expect from the 2011-2012 season? Well pretty much the same, pulsating football, a close title race and an even more exciting relegation dog fight.

I will start at the top of the Premier League, and in particular the 'Top Four', or should that be five? Firstly, I feel that could be the most exciting title race ever as Manchester City, fresh from their first trophy (FA Cup) in decades will be looking to hunt down their near neighbors, United.

We will also see the resurgent Liverpool try to KOP their own 19th league title under the resurgent guidance of Kenny Dalglish, assited by their lethal strike force of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez (below).

Of course we also have another new man in charge at Chelsea who knows that league success will be vital to him keeping his job beyond the current season. At just 33 years of age, Andres Villas-Boas will be the youngest 'Gaffer' on the sidelines this season after Chelsea paid a staggering £13 Million for his services after a clean sweep of trophies while in charge at Porto last season.

As for Arsenal after six long years of no trophies, Arsene Wenger knows that a repeat of last seasons collapse could see the end of his magnificent tenure at the club.

The possibility though of the North London club going another season trophy-less is highly likely, and the imminent departure of talisman Cesc Fabregas, as well as the likely departure of Samir Nasri alongside the already gone Gael Clichy will go no further to offer any hope to the long suffering Gunners supporters.

As for the bottom half of the table and the race to avoid the dreaded abyss of relegation, I think we could just see as an exciting race as the top, though not one that any side will be keen to win.

For me, the three sides that join the Premier League from the Championship, Swansea, Norwich and QPR are the likely contenders for a swift return to the second tier, although this seems foolish to say after only one promoted side from last season fell straight back through the trapdoor (Blackpool, below)

There are going to be a few other contenders for the drop and it certainly will not be a three horse race as we can expect to see the likes of Blackburn, Wolves and West Brom all fight against the drop despite the latter avoiding it last season quite easily, finishing a respectable 10th.

As for the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle, Bolton and Sunderland it could be a season of either great fortune or misfortune as despite looking like having decent squads on paper, they all flirted with great success and relegation at one point last season and we can expect the same this time around.

My predictions for the Premiership season 2011/2012:

Champions: Manchester United (closely followed by Chelsea and Liverpool with Man City fourth)

Relegated: QPR, Swansea and Norwich

What do you think? Do you agree? Are you happy with your sides transfer targets/buys and moving on's so far this summer?

As always let me know.

Losing Tevez could be a blessing in disguise for City

It finally appears that Super Striker Carlos Tevez will be leaving the shores of England this summer due to personal issues relating to his family.

But could such action actually be a blessing in disguise for his current club, mega-rich Manchester City? The answer is yes.

Despite scoring an amazing 43 goals in 65 appearances for City, Tevez has already once before declared his intent on leaving Eastlands before later retracting that desire. The striker has made it clear that he wishes to be closer to his family and that has been the reason for his desire to leave.

Last month the striker declared in a interview that he 'would never return to the cold and wet City (Manchester)' before yesterday announcing officially that yet again he wishes to depart from the recent FA Cup winners.

So where does this leave Manchester City? In all honesty despite wanting to keep hold of Tevez, they will know that keeping a player against his own wish could be damaging for the club and will be keen to find a suitable replacement before they sell, with two years left on his contract, City will be in no rush to sell.

With the likes of Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and of course Craig Bellamy still on their books City have no shortage of quality strikers and moving Tevez along will also remove the hype and saga that has followed the striker since his arrival from across the City.

Mancini will expect to receive upwards of £40 million for the striker which could restrict the strikers final destination as well as his reported £200,000 a week wages.

So should City find a suitable replacement soon I think that City management and fans should be more worried about how they can wrestle the Premiership crown from 19 times Champions United rather than worry about Tevez's impending and inevitable departure from England.

How old is too young?

A common phrase has been used since the announcement that 33 year old Andre Villas-Boas will take over as Chelsea FC manager with immediate effect

That phrase is 'If your good enough, your old enough.', although it may be true to some extent with players, the likes of Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott would back that view up, however, is it the same with young managers?

A brief history of young managers would show that the majority are successful in their new career. The youngest ever manager to grace English football was Graham Taylor when he was appointed the new Lincoln City boss just aged 28 back in 1972.

More recently the likes of Eddie Howe (33), Lee Clarke (38), Karl Robinson (30) and Brendan Rodgers (38) have all had excellent seasons in charge of their respective clubs.

So what can be the problems facing young managers coming into the game? The biggest answer to that question seems to be experience. We often hear chairmen piping up that they want a man with experience in the Premiership or Championship, meaning we often see failing managers jump from one ship to another because they have had experience somewhere else, just look at Nottingham Forest where they have just appointed Former England flop Steve McLaren.

Another issue that sometimes appears is the fact that the managers are younger than the experienced players at the club, AVB will be the same age as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba this season, and that can sometimes cause fractions within the dressing room regarding selection.

Obviously Villas-Boas will be supported by Chelsea when it comes to buying players which means his Chelsea career should start off strongly, however should things start of badly then maybe Chelsea will decide that appointing the youngster could be a mistake.

I feel it's good for the game that bright upcoming managers are finally being given the chance to get the jobs rather than seeing the same old failing faces turning up at different jobs.

What do you think? Is your club managed by a young manager? Would you like to see you club go with a younger face or do you feel that the age of the 'gaffer' is not important and it's the team on the pitch that matters?

As always, let me know.

KING KENNY CAN DELIVER LIVERPOOL TITLE

He was the last manager to deliver title success to Anfield almost 21 years ago and now there is a growing belief that KOP legend Kenny Dalglish could be the man again.

After being re-appointed to the manager's hot seat at Anfield, 20 years after vacating it, Liverpool looked to have turned a very steep corner after the disastrous reign of former boss Roy Hodgson.

There is no doubt that the new American owners that now run the club are a lot more easier to work with the ones that Hodgson had to deal with, however its not the only difference on show at Anfield these days.

Since Hodgson departed, the club has sold Fernando Torres for an incredible £50 Million, comparing he is still yet to score for Chelsea in 10 appearences-it could be a great piece of business for the Reds. With that money, Liverpool set about bringing English hotshot Andy Carroll in from Newcastle and Luis Suarez from Ajax-could be seen as an even greater piece of business.

Monday evening saw the club brush aside top four rivals Manchester City 3-0, two goals coming from Carroll. Last week, former Liverpool player John Barnes said Dalglish would deliver the title if given cash.

It cannot be argued that Liverpool do need to strengthen their squad, especially the back four, however there is a feel good factor back at Anfield that Dalglish has brought with him and given the right backing from the board I expect to see Liverpool not just back in the top four next season, but challenging for their 19th League title.

Can Liverpool win the League next season? Let me know what you think!

DEFEAT WOULD LEAVE CARLO FEELING 'BLUE'

Tuesday night will be the biggest fixture in Carlo Ancelotti's and Chelsea's recent history should the two wish to still be united in the summer.

Defeat for Chelsea in the Champions League Quarter-Final against great rivals Manchester United will more than likely bring Ancelotti's tenure at Stamford Bridge to an end this summer.

Roman Abramovich is losing patience with the Italian if media reports are to be believed after the Stamford Bridge outfit look likely to end the season without a trophy-just one year after winning the double.

So what has changed at Stamford Bridge? Well the answer to that is not a lot. Put aside the ridiculous £50 Million man Fernando Torres and not much else has changed, leaving Ancelotti with the same ageing side that limped to the double last year.

Putting further pressure on the Manager is the fact that Torres has so far been a flop- no goals in 10 games, certainly not value for money - especially when its the money of a man that has put almost a Billion pound into the club since taking over and recieved nothing for it. This season at least anyway.

So can Ancelotti keep his job at the Bridge beyond this season? Surprisingly the answer is yes, however it will take a huge turnaround of form to do it. That turnaround MUST start at Old Trafford on Tuesday night and Chelseas MUST win the Champions League trophy for Carlo still to be in town next season.

The worry for Chelsea, United are on top form and currently sit seven points clear of Arsenal in the League, face Man City in a FA Cup Semi-Final on Saturday and are looking for another treble under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Another concern to Ancelotti will be Wayne Rooney who will be eager to play his part in United's success after missing last weekends clash with Fulham and next weekends Semi-Final date against rivals City thanks to his foul mouthed rant down the camera during the West Ham game.

I fear time is up for Ancelotti at Chelsea as Abramovich simply wont accept a trophy-less season, especially after splashing £50 Million on Torres.

What do you think? Can Ancelotti keep his job at Stamford Bridge? Who could Chelsea replace him with? And do you think there is any truth in rumours that Torres will be sold in the summer?

As always, let me know!!!