Premiership Preview: Part Four

With the start of the 2013/14 Premiership season just around the corner I thought I would take a look at the various teams and the transfers in and out. What can the supporters of each team really expect from the upcoming season.
Each day I will take five teams in what will be a four part preview. Yesterday I looked at current Champions Man Utd, Newcastle, Norwich City, Southampton and Stoke City. Today we have the final part as I look at Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Brom and West Ham.



Sunderland:

The only reason Newcastle fans had to smile at the end of last season was that although they did bad, their rivals did worse. However unlike Newcastle, the Black Cats have started to address the situation. Paulo Di Canio was appointed manager this past March and he pretty much guided them to safety.
Every position has been addressed in the close season with ex Arsenal Goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Two more defenders have been added with Frenchmen Valentin Roberge and Modibo Diakite. Midfield has seen the addition of Cape Verde defensive midfielder Cabral and Italian winger Emanuele Gianccherini along with two youngsters, Sweden’s David Carlson (19) and El-Hadji Ba, a 20 year old Frenchman. The single striking purchase so far is American Jozy Altidore. The American is not new to the Premiership but he will certainly be hoping for a better showing than the time he spent at Hull City a few years back.

Swansea:

What a season it was for the Welsh side last time out. In their second season in the Premiership they improved on what was already a fantastic run under previous manager Brendan Rogers, when they finished 11th. Michael Laudrup came to the Liberty Stadium with somewhat of a question mark but in his first season he secured them a 9th position finish and won the League Cup also, and all while the club posted profits.
 However with success comes extra pressure and now, due to the Cup win, they have already started their season with two games in the Europa League qualification games against Malmo. The second leg of which, takes place this afternoon (8th August).
Now usually I would be concerned about the extra games and extra travel for this type of team. It was detrimental for a Fulham side a few years back who made it all the way to the Final of the competition but finished 12th, five places lower than the previous season. I do not see Swansea going the same way though, as they have invested heavily in their playing squad.
Wilfred Bony, the 24 year old Ivory Coast striker is the big name coming in and joins Michu as an impressive pair up front. John De Guzman and Jonjo Shelvey will boost the midfield, the Dutch international arrives from Villarreal n loan while the English Shelvy joins from Liverpool for $10million. Three Spanish players also arrived. Jordi Amat, (21) a defender from Espanyol, was joined by Midfielders Jose Canas (26) and Alejando Pozuelo (21) both from Betis. Last up on the arrivals list is a free transfer from Arsenal, a 20 year old Jernade Meade. He made his debut for the Gunners first team last season in the League Cup tie with Reading as it entered extra time, he stepped on the pitch at 105 minutes. Later he would start against Olympiacos and played most of the game, but obviously didn’t impress Wenger enough to get offered a new deal.


Tottenham:

I am really torn with this side this season. Even if Gareth Bale does stay it will be interesting to see just how much this transfer speculation will have affected the Welshman and his team mates. However if he does leave, which will happen I think, Tottenham then have to figure out how they will replace the guy who scored a large majority of their goals last season. Spurs have already lost a big number of players this season, although mostly squad players, it will be devastating for them to lose Bale.
Manager Andre Villas Boas (known in the media simply as AVB) has added the Brazillian, Paulinho (from Corrinthians) to his midfield and Spanish striker Roberto Soldado (Valencia) to his squad. Soldado does have a decent record at his previous clubs scoring, an average, a goal every two games since joining Getafe in 2008.
I think Tottenham fans may now have to resign themselves to the fact that Bale will be in white next season, just not theirs. With that being the case the deal needs to be completed quickly and Daniel Levy make significant funds available for AVB to invest some more to keep Tottenham competitive with the very top clubs in the EPL and Europe.
American eyes should have been focused on Clint Dempsey having another solid season in one of Europe’s best leagues, but recently he announced his return to the MLS and although Brad Friedel is there too at age 42 you have to ask if he will now become a bit part player. Then again I said that two years ago when he turned 40.



West Brom:

One of the founding clubs in the League back in 1888 West Brom have recently started getting back to the form their fans enjoyed in the 1960’s. Their league position has been steadily improving since their return to the top flight for the 2010/11 season with last season  seeing them finishing 8th.
Steve Clarke took over from the departing Roy Hodgson at the end of last season. Although Clarke had been around Premiership clubs for a while it was always as Assistant to the manager, it was somewhat of a gamble for The Baggies to install him front and centre. Now he enters in his second season with those questions from a year ago answered but a whole bunch of new ones waiting.
  Just the two signings so far but what quality signings they are. First up is Macedonian 28 year old defender Goran Popov. He has won trophies at his last two clubs, although they were at lesser leagues in the Ukraine and Holland. This will certainly be a step up as far as week in and week out standard of opposition will increase but I am sure he will be able to handle it. The other signing is the guy who seems to have been around for an eternity, Nicolas Anelka. Now at 34 the Frenchman will make West Brom his sixth Premiership side having spent time at Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Bolton and Chelsea. He has scored bags of goals wherever he has gone and as this is a free transfer I do not see much of a risk in this addition.


West Ham:

Fantastic first season fro the Hammers on their return to the Premiership, finishing 10th. A small part of that effort last season, Andy Carroll, has made last seasons loan deal permanent which is a good deal for everyone. Carroll, who didn’t set the world on wire at Liverpool along with West Ham, who he did help will obviously be happy with the deal. However England fans may also be grateful for the deal too and if Carroll can recreate his Newcastle form with the London club then that may give Hodgson another strike option for Brazil next summer.
Also experienced Romanian defender Razvan Rat will be a calming influence at the back and Spanish keeper Adrian will be great competition for Jaaskelainen for the starting spot between the sticks.


Well that concludes my preview and thoughts of the upcoming season. Do you agree? Disagree? Leave comments below or link to me via the profile page and let me know.

Tomorrow I will run down all the Premiership teams and tell you where I think they will finish the season. That should leave me open to some criticism.