Which clubs are genuinly going to be our main rivals next year?

[sussexyid]

Ive been reading through an awful lot of press recently about all the clubs in the Premiership. Everyone has more money than ever before to spend (either from foreign investment or just the new TV money), everyone seems to be making the ellusive spot in the CL the main target for the season, but who are going to be the main contenders trying to break the stranglehold of the supposedly Big 4 this season?

At the start of last season, we were heavily tipped to gatecrash the group and we all know how that finished for us... Presumably, this coming season, we will have a very similar target.

For me, the following are going to be our main competition:

Aston Villa - Martin O'Neill is a great manager, tacticaly astute and doesnt seem to really waste money in the transfer market. Randy Lerner is more than happy to put his money where his mouth is by all reports and I expect them to build on a very solid season last year.

Man City - I think getting rid of SGE was a bad move, but appointing Hughes to take over is a piece of genius. He is a wiley charecter in the transfer market and he now has the Thaksin Shinawatra money available. The squad was vastly improved last closed season and I expect the same again (Ronaldinho in particular is heavily linked). Hughes seems to build strong teams and I would expect City to carry on improving with him in charge.

Everton - David Moyes is one of the best there is IMHO. Keeps adding quality to the squad each year, Everton play good football and I would expect them to also carry on with their improvement curve.

Other clubs who might be snapping at these 3 (and our own) clubs heels would be West Ham, Pompy and Blackburn (even with the loss of Hughes)

Does everyone else agree with this brief synopsis or are there other teams you think we will be truly competing with next season?

Discuss :grin:

 

[Scrubin]

blackburn won't be around us next season, i feel they'll end up losing santa cruz and bentley, and will finish bottom half. also west ham are nowhere near good enough to compete that high up, they'll finish between 8th-12th as usual. pompey are a good shout though, and you never know what newcastle are gonna do...

 

[Disconosebleed]

Aston Villa - While O'Neill keeps making bizarre moves and non-moves in the transfer market, there will continue to be an upper limit to what Villa can achieve. Despite being well-backed by Lerner (the things that he does behind the scenes are pretty incredible - he comes across as a bit of philanthropist, not just providing money for players but reading up on Villa's history and giving the stadium and surrounding area little touches) they have one of the smallest squads in the Premiership. They played the whole of last season without a natural right back, for example. Until O'Neill addresses that problem they won't do anything more than fight for UEFA Cup spots. Losing Barry could be huge as well, not just because of what he brings them on the pitch, but the message it would send to the rest of the players. If Barry goes, I can't see the likes of Young and Agbonlahor staying if big clubs come in for them.


Man City - I've no doubt they will bollocks it. Losing Dunne would be massive for them, far more than losing Richards. An unrealistically ambitious chairman demanding luxury players to add to an otherwise average side, it isn't a recipe for success really. Johnson is apparently turning into a bit of a dickhead and will soon be demanding a move, and Hughes is only ever going to be a bad run of form away from the sack. It depends on who they sign, but I'd be surprised if they finish top six next season.


Everton - Our biggest rival in terms of challenging the top four. Year after year Moyes gets the best out of his players...my only worry for them is that another year finishing top six but no better will see the end of their star players. Arteta is good enough to be playing at a higher level, it wouldn't surprise me if Chelsea or Arsenal went in for Lescott and they don't really have the funds to sign ready-made replacements for those players. That said, they have a host of players who are good for the level they're at - players like Yakubu, Jagielka, Howard and Cahill will do the business for them without ever seriously looking like they might get plucked by one of the top sides. They're very solid and I expect them to finish top six.

The likes of West Ham, Newcastle and Blackburn won't do any better than midtable. We should be looking for top six this season.

 

[Montasura]

If Arsenal do lose some of their key players as predicted and Liverpool don't buy some decent players then I truly believe that 4th place (at least) is wide open.

That being the case then, potentially, Liverpool and The Arse will be our rivals.

Realistically, however, I would say Man City, Everton, Aston Villa, and possibly Portsmouth.

Man City look to be buying big this summer and will be contenders if they get some of these players. I read this morning that Hughes will, allegedly, get £200m over the next 3 years to spend on players!!

Everton, for me, are the unpredictable team. Moyes has done an outstanding job with a team that, on paper, look mid table at best. Arteta is obviously their key man and they will rely on him to keep fit. They are managing to keep well out of the gossip pages, other than a link with Tom Huddlestone, and I don't think they have too much money to spend. Technically they should be our main rivals but, IMO, they just don't look like a 5th placed team and I think they will struggle to match that again next season.

 

[milkman]

Man City, Everton, Villa... those three in order of importance...

 

[worcestersauce]

Man utd, Chelsea and possibly Liverpool other than that AC Milan in the Uefa cup.

and why not?

I can see City coming strong though, Blackburn on a down turn I should think.
Everton are consistant but I can't see them improving.

 

[shakus]

We lost a lot of games last season due to underestimating teams which was clearly evident from our first match with Sunderland and then continued against Villa, Newcastle, Birmingham, Boro, Everton and Blackburn.

Irrespective of the personnel changes of other clubs surely our rivals are everyone and any one?

 

[mrbrightside73]

Forget Pompey,thier first Euro adventure will see them stretched to the limit,and mid table beckons for them.Blackburn will do well to stay up next year,see who they get as manager.Villa i think wont go any higher than they have this season.Man City will probably emerge as our closet rivals,with Everton not far behind.

 

[Defsta]

Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa.


Otherwise I would have counted Man City there too, but whole club is really much messed up and Thaksin is screwing it more, except when he's giving money for playeers.

 

[bubble07]

man utd and hull city

 

[HuggyBear]

we'll be involved in a battle for 4th 5th and 6th with Liverpool and Everton, but with a strong start i reckon we'll see them chasing us after xmas and pushing Chelsea for 3rd.

 

[PT]

If Blackburn get Allardyce and he gets his team installed in time for pre-season, they are always going to be tough to break down. Sam will get his team set up to be difficult to beat first, which is a prerequisite for top six positions.

Everton and Moyes are another team well balanced and motivated. Summer signings to take them on will determine their threat. Money is tight and so is Moyes but he is astute and a good man-manager. They will be there or abouts

Harry may have run out of steam after the efots of last season and there are some big clubs looking at some of his players. Both Distin and Campbell are one year older and may not relish the season ahead. As always, it'll depend on Rednapp's dallies in to the market place.

Manchester City are going to be dark horses - again, and Hughes will make sure they don't get rebuilt as the football version of the Harlem Globetrotters. A good fan base and money on tap, albeit questionable sources of supply, will put pressure on Hughes to deliver.

Then if we are looking at fourth plus, we have to consider the perennial Arsenal and Liverpool. They are the benchmark and have shown the pretenders how simple it is to run the marathon.

Doing it though, is a whole different ball game, to our recent efforts.

 

[HuggyBear]

Is everyone assuming chelsea will be in the top two? I'm not so sure.

 

[PT]

Is everyone assuming chelsea will be in the top two? I'm not so sure.

I think we have to Huggy. They have players who know what it takes and will be highly motivated to revenge last season.

I reckon if we finish above Chelsea we might find ourselves with silverware, and that is not discounting the threat of Manchester United. It will be closer than last season between those two and if we are in the mix, who knows?

 

[nickspurs]

I think Chelski will be strong (=1st or 2nd) and that's without knowing who their manager is. That's testament to the quality of their squad and the fact I don't expect wholesale changes this close season even with a new manager so they'll have stability.

I don't disagree with the general list of teams in the thread. We need to be challenging Liverpool, Everton and Ar5ena1 for 4th while keeping Villa at bay. Man City will take a while to bed down and I think Pompey overachieved last season on some quite old legs.

 

[snake1]

Ive been reading through an awful lot of press recently about all the clubs in the Premiership. Everyone has more money than ever before to spend (either from foreign investment or just the new TV money), everyone seems to be making the ellusive spot in the CL the main target for the season, but who are going to be the main contenders trying to break the stranglehold of the supposedly Big 4 this season?

At the start of last season, we were heavily tipped to gatecrash the group and we all know how that finished for us... Presumably, this coming season, we will have a very similar target.

For me, the following are going to be our main competition:

Aston Villa - Martin O'Neill is a great manager, tacticaly astute and doesnt seem to really waste money in the transfer market. Randy Lerner is more than happy to put his money where his mouth is by all reports and I expect them to build on a very solid season last year.

Man City - I think getting rid of SGE was a bad move, but appointing Hughes to take over is a piece of genius. He is a wiley charecter in the transfer market and he now has the Thaksin Shinawatra money available. The squad was vastly improved last closed season and I expect the same again (Ronaldinho in particular is heavily linked). Hughes seems to build strong teams and I would expect City to carry on improving with him in charge.

Everton - David Moyes is one of the best there is IMHO. Keeps adding quality to the squad each year, Everton play good football and I would expect them to also carry on with their improvement curve.

Other clubs who might be snapping at these 3 (and our own) clubs heels would be West Ham, Pompy and Blackburn (even with the loss of Hughes)

Does everyone else agree with this brief synopsis or are there other teams you think we will be truly competing with next season?

Discuss :grin:

I pretty much agree with what you're saying, here.
We must remain realistic (not that some Spurs fans can be accused of that). We will be battling it out with Aston Villa, Man City, Everton and maybe Pompy for 5th/6th place.

 

[Bulletspur]

Potentially - Liverpool and Arsenal

Realistically - Everton, Aston Villa Man City (As we more or less have the same potential and capability to break into top 4)

Most likely - Middlesborough, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Newcastle, West Ham or Blackburn (If the Spurs of the past season turns up!)

 

[llamafarmer]

Man City are potentially the most dangerous but they could also be a complete joke. They have the financial muscle, but Hughes will no longer need to be so shrewd - which could be his downfall. And in any case, I believe he has a chairman who wants to be a manager looming over him.

Everton will be there or there abouts and probably Villa too.

We should still be in the top 5 though.

 

[PT]

Much of what our lot can achieve next season is actually down to us though, not those around us. That's escpecially true for the first twnety games which makes or breaks the season.

Does anyone remember the feeling that was regualar when we were in fourth and looking back at Arsenal in fifth? We were going in to away games and expecting to win and we did. It was a player mindset thing. The old winning breeds confidence and improves morale.

If Ramos can instil some of that and we can get defensively sound from the off then as I said, it'll be the other clubs doing this exercise with us in their sights.

Who knows, that may include Arsenal and Liverpool.

 

[DC_Boy]

I'm not at all sure who our main rivals will be because so many siginings will be made, and so much depends on how the teams perform in those crucial first four/five games -

but ATM I reckon we'll be finishing about 6th/7th so I guess the usual suspects of Everton (though I don't agree they play good football - not from what I've seen of them - obviously people who are non-Evertonians but watch them regualrly may want to put me right there) Villa Toon etc