Community Shield epic becomes bench mark for the season

Sunday's enthralling Community Shield game between Manchester United and Manchester City is the perfect benchmark for the new Premier League season.

That tussle at Wembley on Sunday is a clear preview of what we are in for this season at the top of the table. I personally believe that this seasons title will be between both Manchester clubs, ending in the same dramatic way in which it did on Sunday, with United breaking City hearts at the death.

There has never been a build up to a season quite like this one, although, we seem to say it every year! There is no longer a Premier League 'Big Four' which included Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. Now it is the 'Big Six' with the original top four being joined by Manchester City and Tottenham. I very much expect the top six to finish with those six teams in it, but the order in which they come is any ones guess.

The title is likely to be between Man United, Man City and Chelsea, however Arsenal and Liverpool are likely to have a say in that. The fourth place spot, if the top three are to be who I've mentioned, will be fought out between Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. However, expect teams such as Aston Villa and Everton to have their say, however with the lack of funds at both clubs compared to the rest, you can't see their squads going the distance.

As for the relegation battle, the three teams who have come up will always be the favourites to go straight back down again. Swansea, Norwich and QPR haven't strengthened their squads considerably. Looking at Newcastle United and West Brom, who were newly promoted this time last year, they both invested considerably in their squads, resulting in both sides avoiding relegation with apparent ease. All three new clubs do play an attractive and attacking brand of football, which, if the defencive side of the team remains strong, can be very rewarding in the big league.

Teams who will be looking over their shoulders this season include, Blackburn, Wolves and Wigan.Wovles look to be the stronger of that bunch of teams and are starting to establish themselves as a Premier League team with 2 consecutive seasons in the league after narrowly escaping relegation on the final day last year. Wigan are set for their seventh consecutive season which is quite remarkable for a club who were in fourth tier of English football in 1995. However, over the last couple of years they have flirted dangerously with the drop zone, escaping relegation last season after a dramatic last couple of wins against West Ham and Stoke.

I very much expect the rest of the teams to fill up the safety of mid table in the league this season. The club who could break for a European spot are Newcastle United, however with current uncertainty at the club, that could have a detrimental effect on their performances at the start of the season. With the club capable of snatching a European spot, it is equally capable of imploding and facing a relegation dog fight this season. The Geordie's could be in for another rollercoaster ride. Stoke City and Sunderland seem to have had a successful pre-season, as both now are established sides in the Premier League, who have spent money in order to progress this season, particularly Sunderland with eight new signings, including Man United veterans Wes Brown and John O'Shea. The Black Cats could be in for an exciting season. West Brom will this year be aiming to rid the tag of being a 'yo-yo' club, yo-yoing between the Premier League and the Championship in recent times by further progressing this season. With Roy Hodgson in charge, relegation shouldn't be a concern.


Fulham and Bolton remain the sides that never seem to progress or challenge for Europe or major trophies. Although in fairness, Fulham were runners-up to Athletico Madrid in the 2010 Europa League final. I expect both sides to once again settle for mid-table comforts this season with the strength of the top teams in the league.

All in all, we can expect one of the most competitive seasons ever witnessed in the Premier League's 20th season. It's impossible to call who will be playing Championship football in 12 months time, or who will be defending their title come next August.

Five players to watch out for in the new season

With the new Premier League season just a week away, I will look at players who won't be considered as top players, who might shine in the new season.

PHIL JONES

The ex-Blackburn ace is one that is considered to be the next England captain by many. His move to Manchester United could be the perfect move for the young center-back. Playing under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson certainly can't be a bad thing for any player, especially if you already have the talent that Jones seems to possess.
He has been compared to the likes of John Terry, which can be no bad thing in terms of on the field ability and leadership. If he can manage to break though the obvious regulars, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, then it could be a significant season for Jones in the red of Man United.

DANIEL STURRIDGE

After his move from Manchester City to Chelsea a few years ago, it looked as if Sturridge would struggle to develop at Stamford Bridge, however a loan move to Bolton Wanderers in the second half of last season seemed to be extremely beneficial for the young striker as he scored eight Premier League goals in twelve outings for the Trotters. There has been talk with another loan move to several Premier League clubs this summer but as yet nothing has materialised.
England Under 21 honours have since followed as he was one of the stand out performers in the overall disappointing Under 21 European Championships earlier in the summer. One to watch if he can manage to get ahead of the likes of Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. A loan move might be ideal for him this season.

AARON RAMSEY

The young Wales and Arsenal starlet had his career take a step back after his horrific leg break at Stoke back in early 2010. Before that he was considered to be one of the hottest young prospects in Britain, with his passing and movement particularly eye-catching.
It has been a long rehabilitation since the break from which he recovered from in October 2010. He was sent out on load twice last season to Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City, playing eleven times overall, scoring once.

He ended the season with a flourish for Arsenal scoring in the win against Manchester United in May, along with claiming the Man of the Match award. He managed seven first team appearances for the Gunners last season, proving he has recovered fully from the injury.
With Cesc Fabregas seemingly on his way out of Arsenal, Ramsey could be lighting up the Premier League next season.

FABIAN DELPH

Since his move to Aston Villa from Leeds United in 2009, Delph has only featured 15 times for the first team, mainly due to the fact that he damaged his cruciate ligaments in his knee in April 2010. This has hampered his Villa career up until now, however he is still highly regarded at Villa Park as one for the future. He has been capped at England U19 and U21 level, and will be looking to break into the Villa first team next season.
Although he hasn't proved himself at this level, this could be the season which Delph establishes himself as a Premier League player.

HARIS VUCKIC

Although Vuckic is relatively unknown to the football world, he is highly regarded at Newcastle United. After moving from his native Slovenia in 2009 to Tyneside, his development was stunted in 2010 when he suffered a serious knee injury playing for Newcastle reserves. This came at the wrong time for Vuckic who had just made his league debut for the Magpies in the 1-0 win over Leicester City at St James' Park in September 2010.

He returned for the start of the 2010/11 campaign, first catching the footballing worlds eye in Newcastle's 4-3 Carling Cup win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The attacking midfielder didn't feature much for the first team last season, with the odd bench warming job during the season.
His performances for Newcastle in pre-season friendlies this summer have again shown his undoubted talent, scoring against Columbus Crew and Leeds United in the last few weeks. The goal against Columbus being particularly impressive. With Newcastle having a relatively small squad, Vuckic could yet force his way into the first team at St James' Park.

The Joey Barton Twitter saga triggers Newcastle United 'crisis' (not again..!)

The Joey Barton twitter saga has once again alerted the loyal Newcastle fans of the seemingly poor way in which the club is being run.

Once news had broke that Newcastle were willing to let Barton leave for free this summer, even though he still has a year left on his contract, sparked mass unrest within the Toon Army.

Barton was an integral part of Newcastle's successful return to the top flight last season as he chipped in with four goals and nine assists. That season seemed to be the turning point in his career, as he had won over the fans who had stuck by him.

However, this summer has yet again knocked Barton back to being ridiculed by the media. Firstly, the club and Barton couldn't agree on a new contract, so the club said, leaving Barton unsure over his future. The club then revealed they would not be offering him a new contract and that he would play out his final year at the club, although the club offering a new contract in the future wasn't ruled out completely.

This was the stage that Barton seemed to turn on the club’s board, issuing comments on his Twitter page criticising the clubs transfer policy, which in all fairness, he may have a point.

Suddenly, if things weren't bad enough for Barton, with his long term future undecided, Newcastle and in particular owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias, looked to have given up on Barton, issuing a statement saying that Barton would be transfer listed and available for no price.

All of a sudden, Newcastle United again seemed in crisis. This isn't something that is said once in a blue moon, this is a very regular occurrence for this unique club, especially since the takeover of Mike Ashley. Since the relegation of the club in 2009, there seems to be a 'crisis' every 6 months. Firstly, of course, the relegation was a crisis in its self, as there was no manager, the owner wanted to sell up, players wanted to leave and the financial state of the club looked in jeopardy.

Ashley wisely appointed a manager from within the club, namely, Chris Hughton, on an interim basis to try and steady the ship and to take care of footballing matters while the financial situation was dealt with. A lot of players left the club that summer, but certain individuals such as Barton himself, Kevin Nolan, Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Jose Enrique and Steve Harper, all stayed at the club to try and get the club promoted at the first time of asking.

Hughton was given the job full time in October 2009, and things were starting to look good once again as the Magpies stormed though the Championship, winning the title with a huge 102 points.

Suddenly things were looking up, a return to the Premier League, where the club undoubtedly belongs, was achieved.

Newcastle were in 11th place at the end of 2010 and the form of Andy Carroll and club captain Kevin Nolan had made the possibility of Newcastle achieving their goal of staying up, very likely.

Then, all of a sudden, Mike Ashley decided to once again, do his best to upset fans and players with his outrageous decision making. Firstly the sacking of now, hero, Chris Hughton, who had taken the club from despair to Premier League mid-table within 18 months, started a mini crisis at the club in December 2010. That crisis continued after the surprising appointment of Alan Pardew, there was growing rumours that striker Andy Carroll was going to be sold in the January transfer window. Over and over, Pardew rebuffed those claims saying that Carroll would not be sold, whatever the price. Whether that was Mike Ashley telling Pardew to say those words in order to keep the fans happy whilst maybe encouraging teams to up their price for the striker, no one knows. But what we do know is, is that Carroll was sold, to Liverpool, on the final day of the transfer window, for a staggering £35 million.

Fair enough that is an awful lot of money for someone so young and unproven, however the fans did not see it that way and that is understandable. Newcastle United should not be a 'selling club' and judging by that sale, it looks as if it might become one.

Somehow, Mike Ashley and his board managed to divert the criticism off themselves and onto Andy Carroll, saying it was him that wanted to leave the club and that they had no choice but to accept Liverpool's offer. However, this summer has maybe shown that Carroll was in fact forced out of the club. Kevin Nolan's sale to West Ham United was the first sign of this as a few weeks after his sale he came out and said he had no choice but to leave as he had lost trust in the owners claiming that there had been 'broken promises'. Further proving that the running of the club was jeopardising the progression of it on the pitch for next season.

The last nail in the coffin for Newcastle fans this year is the treatment of midfielder Joey Barton. Yes, he may have openly criticised the club and its board, however, the way he has been treated and being the personality he is, he wasn't going to soak it in and forget about it.

There are protests apparently being organised for the friendly against Fiorentina this weekend and for the first game of the season at home to Arsenal a week on Saturday, as the Toon Army look to try and force Mike Ashley out of their club.

England show India who are the top dogs

Andrew Strauss' England team look set to become the new world number one test nation after taking a 2-0 lead in the four match series with India.

Before the test series began, England knew that a win by two clear tests would be enough to send them to the top of the world rankings.

The resurgence of Stuart Broad in the last two test matches has lead to England being in the position where the number one rating is within touch.

Before the test series started, it was Broad who's test place was at risk due to poor form in all forms of cricket over the past few months. Tim Bresnan was likely to replace Broad for the 1st Test Match at Lords however the England selectors stuck by Broad and what a decision that has turned out to be.

At Lords Broad took seven wickets overall and scored a vital 74 not out as England went on to secure a 196 run victory. In the second test at Trent Bridge, Broad took another eight Indian wickets, including a hat-trick in India's first innings at a vital time leaving him with figures of 6-46 and match figures of 8-76. His batting at Trent Bridge also proved vital for England as he top scored in the first innings to rescue England with 64. In the second innings he again produced with the bat with a majestic 44.

Thanks to Broad, England went on to crush India at Trent Bridge by 318 runs. With two tests left to play at Edgbaston and The Kia Oval, odds on England becoming the new test number one have been slashed.

The form of Alistair Cook looks to have dipped slightly as he hasn't made double figures in the series as yet. However he can be forgiven for a dip in form due to his outstanding form over the last seven or eight months. Kevin Pietersen looks to have returned to form with a fantastic 202 not out in the first test at Lords, helping England to a comanding 474 for 8 declared. The other batsmen who have shon are Matt Prior and Ian Bell, with Prior scoring a vital 71 in the first innings at Lords and 103 not out in the second innings.
Ian Bell's 159 in  the second innings at Trent Bridge, albeit controversial with the run out which was later withdrawn by India, proved to give England the spring board for victory.



All of a sudden, the apparent rule of India in all forms of cricket looks to be vunerable. Even if England don't manage to win the series by two clear tests, it cannot be denied that they are playing the best cricket and despite the rankings, England are the best test side in the world.