John: I am going to go with Man City, they have bought well on the final day. The players they have bought are just squad players but they are better squad players than they had last season. I also think they will be more galvanized as a team and I think it will be day light between them and second place. For me I don't think Man Utd will do a lot this season, I know they have signed Van Persie but I think he will disharmonise the dressing room, because Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez will not be playing as regularly.
Sam: Manchester City - I think they have enough to edge it. Although they haven't really hit the ground running, neither have Man Utd. Will be close.
Stephen: Well my answer may have been an outside bet in Chelsea given their 9 points from 9 but watching them get a lesson off Athletico Madrid last night kind of reminded me that Di Matteo is/was/has been luckier than he is/was/has been skilful as a manager and I see a few droughts in his season. Man City I think, I thought it was a very positive deadline day for them, greater quality throughout the whole squad now and the core team aren't too far from fully gelled. Man Utd don't look the part for me, Kagawa and RVP are good signings but I've not been impressed at all with what I've see.
Ian: Man Utd have genuinely strengthened in this window. As have Chelsea. Man city however haven't and it's a bit worrying for them. Signing a number of players on transfer deadline day smacks of a club that isn't completely in control, and you can't really say that their squad is stronger than this time last year. So it's Man United for me.
Champions League positions?
John: Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Tottenham. I think Tottenham have strengthened well, even with the losses of Modric and Van Der Vaart and if Andre Villas Boas is given time I think he will get the team playing together.
Sam: Chelsea and Arsenal - To be honest I struggle to see where Arsenal will get their goals, but fortunately for them I think everyone could be beating everyone this season. I think Tottenham could struggle and have so far been far from convincing in their first 2 games. The addition of Dempsey and Adebayor could be a large boost for them.
Stephen: Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Chelsea and given Arsenals inauspicious beginnings I think they'll have their hands full, based on the opening two performances and the transfer window I'm going to predict Everton getting their second bite and Fellaini world player of the year if he keeps the same standard for the next 36 games.
Ian: Spurs appear to have gone backwards, and Newcastle don't have the ability to push on further, neither do Everton. Liverpool will probably be in reverse. So it's the Manchester clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Relegated Clubs?
John: Norwich, Wigan, Aston Villa - Aston Villa have brought in a load of Championship and league 1 players so I don't see how they can stay up. Lambert has made a massive mistake going there. I also can see Randy Lerner selling Villa at some point this year. It has to be Wigan’s time they have weakened an already weak squad. Norwich, as much as I like Chris Hughton Norwich have a poor squad and as the season goes on will struggle more and more, I can see them finishing bottom.
Sam: Norwich, Southampton and Reading - Southampton were very impressive against Manchester City but people should not get carried away by 1 performance. It will be a hard season for them and out of the bottom 3 I reckon they will push the hardest. I do like Nigel Adkins though and they are a team I would like to stay up. Norwich will find it hard this season, I like Chris Hughton for obvious Newcastle related reasons, and he did a fantastic job last season with Birmingham but so far in the first 2 games they have looked like they could be the premier league whipping boys. As for Reading, I don't think a lot of their players are cut out for the premiership, Adam Le Fondre is almost premiership standard. Along with Southampton, I'm sure they can give us some entertainment along the way, and I think that they won't be going down without a big scalp or two.
Stephen: Really early to write off Southampton, I'm going to think more about their performance at Man city rather than that against Wigan. I think Norwich look likely, I've got to go with Wigan... they've done nothing but weaken the team over the transfer window and I think a valiant Reading will struggle to safety thanks to the surely unavoidable drop for Villa... they've got to go down. Villa, Norwich and Wigan are my three.
Ian: West Ham, Reading and Southampton - You can say West Ham have signed quality in Jarvis and Carroll, however Jarvis was relegated last season and Fletcher scored 12 goals for Wolves. Will Carroll get that many? Probably not. West Ham still can't defend - their goals last week vs Swansea were just awful.
Surprise Package? (Team)
John: Everton, they have bought well and so have Swansea. I think Everton will push the European hopefuls all the way and Swansea will finish top half. I also think Tottenham because Lloris, Dempsey and Dembele are three fantastic signings.
Sam: This is hard to judge as I feel that a lot of teams such as Everton, Sunderland, Swansea and Fulham have all made some good signings in the transfer window. If I have to give it to someone it will have to be Everton. Think they will be pushing for the Champions League spots like Newcastle were last year.
Stephen: Everton... for reasons I stated above, I can't believe how good they looked defensively against Man Utd and offensively against villa...they're usually slow starters that end well, keep the strong end and they could be higher than 4th even...basically I'm very impressed.
Ian: Everton for me - They have looked great in the first couple of games and it's going to be really interesting to see how they do now they've had a decent start, which is something they're not used to. Moyes is getting more and more desperate to win something and you kind of get the impression that things are coming to a head for them.
Underachiever of the season? (Team)
John: Well I would have to say Arsenal, as much as I don't want it to be but I just think they haven't strengthened sufficiently to combat the loss of Alex Song and Robin Van Persie. Aston Villa look really awful in the first two games and I don't know where they can get a win from. Judging from their signings they look like they are preparing for life in the championship.
Sam: Aston Villa and Tottenham. Will have to give it to Tottenham though, I think Villas Boas is trying to do a bit too much too fast, which could be a major criticism for why he failed at Chelsea. I think given time, he will prove himself but the time he requires may not be given to him.
Stephen: I'm inclined to say Spurs, I'm a big fan of Dembele and Dempsey so they're good signings but I think AVB is one of those that needs time and whether levy can ride it out will be an issue this season.
Ian: Liverpool. Then again what is underachievement for Liverpool? The inability to accept they're an upper mid table team probably suggests they're held in a little too high a regard by their own fans. They'll finish around halfway and comparing that to the weight of expectation is probably not good enough.
Top Scorer?
John: Torres, he looks back to his best. I also think Mario Balotelli would be a cheeky bet looked amazing in the Euros. Finally Tevez is another player I would back to be a top scorer he looks like he is enjoying his football again. Out of those three I am going for Tevez.
Sam: Fernando Torres - He is looking like the Torres of old, and seems to have immediately started to link up with Hazard.
Stephen: Well I've got to be concerned about Giroud, I thought he looked the part from small pieces of ligue 1 footage but he may need bedding in for longer than is still possible to challenge for the golden boot. Tevez may be there or thereabouts if he doesn't break again. Torres up front on his own and a supply from hazard, could see his old self back. Torres
Ian: Rooney. However I predict that this season, no one will score above 18 goals.
First Manager to Go?
John: Mark Hughes has to be the favourite he has bought himself zero time with his efforts in the transfer market and I think if he hasn't got going by October he will be gone. I also think Tony Pulis has an outside chance, he has spent a lot of money again and if there is not a marginal improvement on the field to last season I think Peter Coates may act.
Sam: Mark Hughes and Paul Lambert both look like they will really struggle this season and given the amount of money Hughes has spent I think he will be the first to go.
Stephen: There's a few in trouble, Lambert won't be a bad call but there's not much anyone can do with that squad... (bet Bent wishes he was still at Sunderland). AVB will feel some pressure as will Rodgers. Close call but I don't think AVB will last.
Stephen: There's a few in trouble, Lambert won't be a bad call but there's not much anyone can do with that squad... (bet Bent wishes he was still at Sunderland). AVB will feel some pressure as will Rodgers. Close call but I don't think AVB will last.
Ian: Mark Hughes. Fernandes is a trigger happy chairman and is currently seeing little return from his investment this season. The knives are probably getting ready to be drawn. Hughes is famously very confident in his own ability, but really his record in the league and transfer market since he left Blackburn has been mediocre at best.
What will be the story of the season?
John: Mario Balotelli gets his own TV show...
Sam: Dunno what to make of this question? I dunno, Wayne Rooney and John Terry have a threesome with Roy Hodgson's wife?
Stephen: Everton playing champions league next season. At least one England international cheating on his wife.
Ian: Everton will be around the top of the table come Christmas and people will be talking about a title push. I'm actually really confident about this!
Individually who will be the best buy?
John: Hazard is the obvious choice, but Michu for me, he has already paid for himself with goals but he is a very good player and I can only see him getting better.
Sam: Extremely bog standard answer but Hazard. And to be honest he should be for the money they paid!
Stephen: Adam Johnson is a very nice move to Sunderland and if Hazard continues as he's started he's got to be in with a shout, but given his immediate impact Michu will be the man.
Ian: Michu looks a cracking signing, but really everyone's saying this so it's not a surprise. I think Johnson is a good player and, ahem, Fletcher after his brace today. I've had the benefit of writing this later than everyone else though so maybe that's a bit cheeky...
Individually who is the worst buy?
John: Pretty much all of QPRs signings, a lot of overpaid journeymen. I also think Gaston Ramirez for Southampton because £12 mill could have been used better, maybe two good defenders.
Sam: Giroud for Arsenal. He just doesn't look confident and that good either. Arsenal already look like they could struggle for goals this season and I don't think he is the answer.
Stephen: One of Villa or QPRs signings, there are a lot of them and they're 90% over travelled, over rated, over paid, you could pull almost any one of all QPRs signings out of a hat to decide that one.
Ian: I believe Podolski to be an expensive gamble. £11m on a player who was relegated last year (I know, I know, so was Fletcher and he cost more). I just think that this is getting towards last chance saloon for Arsenal and the pressure will be too much for the man.
Who has performed the best in the Transfer Market?
John: Sunderland have bought well I think Johnson is quite a coup and I do think with Fletcher, Sunderland will have a decent chance this season. My picks thougt will have to be Swansea they have bought very well, Michu and Hernandez I think will prove to be excellent signings.
Sam: First week of the season I criticised Sunderland but I think since then they have signed well. I think their starting 11 now is very strong however their squad after that is poor. I will give the best business though to Everton, they say never go back but in the case of Pienaar for £4.8 mil I don't see how they can go wrong. Other players they have signed also look strong.
Stephen: I think Swansea. I heart Michael Laudrup and under the circumstances their signings and their start are great... on a side note I wish Sinclair would have stayed but still... Swansea for me.
Ian: Well Swansea have picked up some cracking players, and I think despite losing some of their best ones, they have significantly strengthened.
Who has performed the worst in the Transfer Market?
John: QPR...This is the easiest question among the lot. They have basically panicked bought all their players. You hear Hughes coming out and saying Green can leave in January if he isn't happy. Just proves that there is no plan in place and it is buy anyone who is available. Making a team out those mercenaries will be hardest of all. There team consists of 16 players over the age of 30 and within a squad of 28. Aston Villa have weakened their squad over the course of the transfer window.
Sam: QPR and West Ham have just bought everyone! For West Ham I don't always think that the answer is to sign players in that much bulk. Personally Aston Villa have performed the worst in the Transfer Market. They have signed quite a lot of poor players, for quite a lot of money.
Stephen: QPR - I'm not a fan at all, good luck making a team out of all that. Utter nonsense watching them flap around over this window.
Ian: QPR QPR QPR. Also Arsenal have spent a shedload of money. If Arsene doesn’t get this lot to gel I’m not sure how much longer he'll be around.
What is QPR thinking? Do they have a lot of money or are they spending next year’s TV money? Or does Tony Fernandes not understand the Transfer window?
John: I would like Mark Hughes to sit down and go through each individual player he has signed and go through his thinking behind it. Half of them I don't think he could give you an answer. Tony Fernandes on a steep learning curve and I can see it peaking with the dismissal of Mark Hughes. I can also see mass changes next season at QPR, but hopefully with someone who has a plan and has an actual vision.
Sam: Do I like QPR? No. Do I think they'll finish high up the league? No. To say they are spending next season's TV money is ridiculous because Tony Fernandez is an extremely rich man (I actually find him quite a likeable guy too). I do not blame QPR for 1 second for buying loads of players, Man City did the same and so did Chelsea. However QPR have just done it very poorly and have signed mostly a load of crap.
Stephen: I've got no time for them at all, I think this is Mark Hughes more than Fernandes, he must have a silk tongue because this is exactly what he did at Man city when given money. Hughes clearly has no clue as far as I'm concerned, sitting in a press conference describing his ongoing scouting of Granero?!?!?! What a tool, I wouldn't trust Hughes with a fiver.
Ian: Panic buying, badly run, not thinking, no long term prospects with the players signed. This means another overhaul next year. Not a way to do things.
When will the first "Rodgers out" calls be heard?
John: Soon, without a goal scoring striker I can see Liverpool languishing mid table and it happening around November.
Sam: Personally I don't think we will hear it unless they are in the bottom half of the table which I don't think they will be.
Stephen: I think they'll come and possibly before Christmas, the only thing slower than his start is his activity in the transfer window, he's done himself no favours yet as manager.
Ian: Within a month.
Will Michael Owen be a success at...? (Insert team here)
John: No, he will be average if he gets a game. He will have the same role at any club in the Premier League as he did for Man Utd.
Sam: No, but he'll just be a fringe player for which ever club he signs for unless it’s one of the relegation battlers. Might come off the bench and grab a couple of goals but that’s about it.
Stephen: where's he gone? I just hope not, that's all I can say. The less I hear or see of him the more comfortable my life will be (I'm surprised Hughes didn't get him in, that could've been another £100000 a week pissed into the wind)
Ian: No. No he won't wherever he goes. The guy is nearly 33 and it's almost too late to take a gamble on a guy that has a ridiculously poor injury record.
~John Lavery
~Sam Lavery
~Stephen Wrigglesworth
~Ian Bendelow
Stephen: There's a few in trouble, Lambert won't be a bad call but there's not much anyone can do with that squad... (bet Bent wishes he was still at Sunderland). AVB will feel some pressure as will Rodgers. Close call but I don't think AVB will last.
Ian: Mark Hughes. Fernandes is a trigger happy chairman and is currently seeing little return from his investment this season. The knives are probably getting ready to be drawn. Hughes is famously very confident in his own ability, but really his record in the league and transfer market since he left Blackburn has been mediocre at best.
What will be the story of the season?
John: Mario Balotelli gets his own TV show...
Sam: Dunno what to make of this question? I dunno, Wayne Rooney and John Terry have a threesome with Roy Hodgson's wife?
Stephen: Everton playing champions league next season. At least one England international cheating on his wife.
Ian: Everton will be around the top of the table come Christmas and people will be talking about a title push. I'm actually really confident about this!
Individually who will be the best buy?
John: Hazard is the obvious choice, but Michu for me, he has already paid for himself with goals but he is a very good player and I can only see him getting better.
Sam: Extremely bog standard answer but Hazard. And to be honest he should be for the money they paid!
Stephen: Adam Johnson is a very nice move to Sunderland and if Hazard continues as he's started he's got to be in with a shout, but given his immediate impact Michu will be the man.
Ian: Michu looks a cracking signing, but really everyone's saying this so it's not a surprise. I think Johnson is a good player and, ahem, Fletcher after his brace today. I've had the benefit of writing this later than everyone else though so maybe that's a bit cheeky...
Individually who is the worst buy?
John: Pretty much all of QPRs signings, a lot of overpaid journeymen. I also think Gaston Ramirez for Southampton because £12 mill could have been used better, maybe two good defenders.
Sam: Giroud for Arsenal. He just doesn't look confident and that good either. Arsenal already look like they could struggle for goals this season and I don't think he is the answer.
Stephen: One of Villa or QPRs signings, there are a lot of them and they're 90% over travelled, over rated, over paid, you could pull almost any one of all QPRs signings out of a hat to decide that one.
Ian: I believe Podolski to be an expensive gamble. £11m on a player who was relegated last year (I know, I know, so was Fletcher and he cost more). I just think that this is getting towards last chance saloon for Arsenal and the pressure will be too much for the man.
Who has performed the best in the Transfer Market?
John: Sunderland have bought well I think Johnson is quite a coup and I do think with Fletcher, Sunderland will have a decent chance this season. My picks thougt will have to be Swansea they have bought very well, Michu and Hernandez I think will prove to be excellent signings.
Sam: First week of the season I criticised Sunderland but I think since then they have signed well. I think their starting 11 now is very strong however their squad after that is poor. I will give the best business though to Everton, they say never go back but in the case of Pienaar for £4.8 mil I don't see how they can go wrong. Other players they have signed also look strong.
Stephen: I think Swansea. I heart Michael Laudrup and under the circumstances their signings and their start are great... on a side note I wish Sinclair would have stayed but still... Swansea for me.
Ian: Well Swansea have picked up some cracking players, and I think despite losing some of their best ones, they have significantly strengthened.
Who has performed the worst in the Transfer Market?
John: QPR...This is the easiest question among the lot. They have basically panicked bought all their players. You hear Hughes coming out and saying Green can leave in January if he isn't happy. Just proves that there is no plan in place and it is buy anyone who is available. Making a team out those mercenaries will be hardest of all. There team consists of 16 players over the age of 30 and within a squad of 28. Aston Villa have weakened their squad over the course of the transfer window.
Sam: QPR and West Ham have just bought everyone! For West Ham I don't always think that the answer is to sign players in that much bulk. Personally Aston Villa have performed the worst in the Transfer Market. They have signed quite a lot of poor players, for quite a lot of money.
Stephen: QPR - I'm not a fan at all, good luck making a team out of all that. Utter nonsense watching them flap around over this window.
Ian: QPR QPR QPR. Also Arsenal have spent a shedload of money. If Arsene doesn’t get this lot to gel I’m not sure how much longer he'll be around.
What is QPR thinking? Do they have a lot of money or are they spending next year’s TV money? Or does Tony Fernandes not understand the Transfer window?
John: I would like Mark Hughes to sit down and go through each individual player he has signed and go through his thinking behind it. Half of them I don't think he could give you an answer. Tony Fernandes on a steep learning curve and I can see it peaking with the dismissal of Mark Hughes. I can also see mass changes next season at QPR, but hopefully with someone who has a plan and has an actual vision.
Sam: Do I like QPR? No. Do I think they'll finish high up the league? No. To say they are spending next season's TV money is ridiculous because Tony Fernandez is an extremely rich man (I actually find him quite a likeable guy too). I do not blame QPR for 1 second for buying loads of players, Man City did the same and so did Chelsea. However QPR have just done it very poorly and have signed mostly a load of crap.
Stephen: I've got no time for them at all, I think this is Mark Hughes more than Fernandes, he must have a silk tongue because this is exactly what he did at Man city when given money. Hughes clearly has no clue as far as I'm concerned, sitting in a press conference describing his ongoing scouting of Granero?!?!?! What a tool, I wouldn't trust Hughes with a fiver.
Ian: Panic buying, badly run, not thinking, no long term prospects with the players signed. This means another overhaul next year. Not a way to do things.
When will the first "Rodgers out" calls be heard?
John: Soon, without a goal scoring striker I can see Liverpool languishing mid table and it happening around November.
Sam: Personally I don't think we will hear it unless they are in the bottom half of the table which I don't think they will be.
Stephen: I think they'll come and possibly before Christmas, the only thing slower than his start is his activity in the transfer window, he's done himself no favours yet as manager.
Ian: Within a month.
Will Michael Owen be a success at...? (Insert team here)
John: No, he will be average if he gets a game. He will have the same role at any club in the Premier League as he did for Man Utd.
Sam: No, but he'll just be a fringe player for which ever club he signs for unless it’s one of the relegation battlers. Might come off the bench and grab a couple of goals but that’s about it.
Stephen: where's he gone? I just hope not, that's all I can say. The less I hear or see of him the more comfortable my life will be (I'm surprised Hughes didn't get him in, that could've been another £100000 a week pissed into the wind)
Ian: No. No he won't wherever he goes. The guy is nearly 33 and it's almost too late to take a gamble on a guy that has a ridiculously poor injury record.
~John Lavery
~Sam Lavery
~Stephen Wrigglesworth
~Ian Bendelow
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