Opinion | Battle at the Bottom
Opinion | Battle at the Bottom
Who will struggle to stay in the Premier League this season?
With the season about to start most people s attention has been focused on the various sagas of the summer transfer window and the managerial shifts including the return of the Special One. As a result, very few people have even started to consider who will win the title next season, let alone just who will be relegated.
Whilst the Premier League trophy may as well be presented alongside Jose Mourinho for his first game back at the Bridge on the 18th August, the candidates for the drop are a little trickier. Of course most people would always begin with the promoted sides, so as we always say, if its not broken.... 
Ian Holloway is a great personality to have back in the EPL but for how long will he be there?
After losing the major factor in their race for promotion - Wilfred Zaha, Crystal Palace seem to be favourites for the drop. Yes manager Ian Holloway may come out with some utter crackers in the press room but his side are not even half as impressive. Not only do they have to contend with the loss of Zaha but also the long term injury to Glenn Murray, scorer of 30 goals last season. As Holloway found out with Blackpool, the top flight of English football is hard and cruel and they are odds on for the drop, for a fourth consecutive time after being promoted. 
Showing exactly why the Championship is so exciting, the run of form put together by Hull in the latter part of the season was simply dire and simply has to be avoided unless the drop is what Bruce and his players are aiming for next season. Hull have made some good signings over the summer including a £5m purchase of Tom Huddlestone from Tottenham and one thing that they do have is a manager who has some experience of keeping a shall we say lesser side in the top flight after spells at Wigan, Birmingham and Sunderland.
The final promoted side are Cardiff who will be hoping to recreate even half of what rivals Swansea showed in their first season in the Premier League. They have already begun netting some seriously good signings with Steven Caulker s arrival not only bemusing Spurs fans but also making their back four look a great deal more solid. Much like Swansea and the signing of Michu last season, 20 year old Andreas Cornelius could well show the Premier League how it s done, that or be a Torres sized flop.
 |
 |
Moving onto the sides we all know now, it seems only right to straight away to note that whilst there is no such thing as being safe in the top flight, sides like Newcastle who have kept their top players even after calling them Kebabs, and also Norwich who have not only sustained their side but brought in Ricky Van Wolfswinkle, 'should' be safe.
One side that really struggled last season were Aston Villa, who have made what Paul Merson considered to be the signing of the summer in keeping Christian Benteke and that, coupled with the experience the young side and Paul Lambert gained last season could be invaluable in their fight for survival.
Two sides who we have become to consider Premier League if there is such a thing would have to be Sunderland and Stoke. Both underwent managerial changes last season to varying degrees of success and it seems the early consensus is that Stoke should be ok with Mark Hughes at the helm who has shown with Blackburn he can grind out results, keep a side in the top flight and develop a team and their style of play from there.
Paulo Di Canio on the other hand could go one way or the other and big drama may well be on the cards given the fiery temper and eccentric qualities the Italian possesses, meaning that Sunderland could well be the side to watch next season, and for all the wrong reasons. 
One team that seem to be popping up on a few lists for the relegation candidates are Steve Clarke s West Brom, who are in dire need of a couple of players should they wish to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap. The loss of 17 goal man Romelu Lukaku is a big one, yet one Chelsea man for another seems to be the idea for Clarke and Nicholas Anelka will provide the goals in abundance.
The likes of Scott Sinclair and Solomon Kalou are also being heavily linked with the club and both would provide much needed talent down the wings after the departures of Gonzalo Jara, Jerome Thomas, Zoltan Gera and Marc-Antoine Fortune. 
Anelka should prove to be a great signing for West Brom.
Football being what it is, that list will not be complete and there are bound to be a few twists and turns along the way, any of the above sides could well be a shock contender for European football and given how competitive the Premier League now is, a shock contender for relegation is not even out the question. Whatever the case, we're glad its back!
Who do you think will be the bottom three this season? Let us know your thoughts.
