Premier League Preview Continued...

Without further ado, here is the next 5 teams up in my look at the forthcoming Premier League Season.

Birmingham
Next up it's last seasons suprise package Birmingham City. A lot of people, me included saw the way that Birmingham struggled to make it out of the Championship, and particularly struggled for goals and foresaw trouble. It is to Alex McLeish's great credit that at no point was relegation really on the cards. This was mostly down to a very hardworking team ethic and a determination not to give anything away easy to the opposition. Personally I would take a look at someone like Roger Johnson as a possible England centre half if a truly hopeless plodder like Matt Upson can seemingly be an automatic pick! He took a group of Championship performers and players like Barry Ferguson who had previously failed in the Premier League and got fantastic performances out of them every week. It looks to me like he has got a perfect blend of youth and experience there and has tried to bring in a bit of flair like Benitez up front to add something different. There is continued pursuit of Ryan Babel at Liverpool I think is interesting. I remember him playing for Ajax and Holland younger age teams and looking a hell of a player. I think if a manager showed some confidence in him he could really blossom. If they were to get hold of Babel or a similar player then it would be a sign of progress. Birmingham will be well clear of trouble, in my opinion, as they have a strong team with decent back up. They could have a good cup run or even push for Europe through the league with a couple of attacking players. They don't have an out-and-out goalscorer, and whilst they seem a rarity these days it would be worth the investment.

Chelsea
Last seasons champions in Carlo Ancelotti's first season, and in some style too! But can he repeat the trick? In Ancelotti Chelsea have a manager who is used to squeezing performances out of players who are getting towards the twilight of their careers. He has brought in the man responsible for the Milanlab that has prolonged so many of AC Milan's players careers in the last decade and will be hoping for similar results at Chelsea. At points in last season Nicolas Anelka and John Terry in particular looked off the pace. All the talk coming out of Chelsea is that this is the year that their youth system will finally start producing first team players. Jeffrey Bruma (centre back), Josh McEachran (attacking midfielder) and Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini (both forwards) have been seen around the squad and are all expected to play some part this year. I think this shows Chelsea in a very positive light. All the aforementioned players have looked impressive in the cameos they have been given. Add this to the fact the older players should, in the main, be good for another year at least, and I think the title is currently Chelsea's to lose.

Everton
My tip for the Manchester United managers position when it becomes available next! David Moyes has done an astonishing job at Everton in establishing them as a team that no-one would be suprised to see in Europe anymore, or even making a go of Champions League qualification. This has all been done largely without any huge money transfers and without any big names before they joined the club. Players like Tim Cahill and Phil Jagielka have been brought from lower league teams, Mikel Arteta is one of the finest passers in the league and was bought for peanuts from Rangers. Marouane Fellaini is their one big money signing and I think you'd struggle to argue he hasn't justified that price tag. I think with the Aberdeen connection that Ferguson would definitely recommend his protege for the post after he finally retires. Had Everton not have started so poorly, after the Joleon Lescott saga, then they could have got Champions League football. And there have been no such disturbances this summer. The problem lies in Manchester City and Tottenham's greater prestige and spending power. Moyes will be forced to hunt much harder for players if he aims to finish above these 2. I do think they will finish ahead of Liverpool though, and provide city bragging rights for their fans. I'd certainly take them in a match bet with Liverpool if one becomes available at a good price.

Fulham
Another of last seasons over-achievers/suprise packages, depending on your viewpoint. The success they had in reaching the Europa League final and beating the likes of Juventus en route, got Roy Hodgson the coveted Liverpool job. As we speak this currently leaves Fulham without a permanent manager so it is a bit difficult to make predictions. They need to make an appointment soon though, or it will be too late for the manager to get his ideas across and bring in any fresh faces they might want. Martin Jol is the current favourite and I think this would represent a good appointment for Al Fayed. He was harshly treated by Tottenham in his time with them and will have a point to prove. In saying all this I think Hodgson got evrything anyone could get out of this Fulham team last year, and with teams aorund them improving I think they might struggle unless the new manager freshens the squad up a bit. Losing Mark Schwarzer to Arsenal, as looks increasingly likely, would be a blow as he has been a brilliant replacement for Van Der Sar for the last couple of seasons. I can see this season being a real fall from grace and I wouldn't put people off backing them at around 10/1 to go down.

Liverpool
Could this be their year? In a word, no! Personally I don't see even a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel Liverpool have been heading down since the American owners came in. Carragher and Gerrard look over the hill and absolutely shattered respectively. Torres is a fine striker when fit, but he is beginning to look increasingly injury prone, with constant hamstring problems resembling Michael Owen's problems. Mascherano, whilst not my favourite player, has gone AWOL and will not be there next season at a guess. The players being talked about moving are along the lines of Danny Murphy and Paul Scharner, whilst far from poor are not going to propel them to new heights. Joe Cole is an injury riddled shadow of the player that was tipped as the new Gazza, and has played only an average of 17 games a season in his Chelsea career. He looked horrendously off the pace when he featured at the World Cup, and if this is the big signing of the summer then the Europa League is looking like it's now the accepted target. With the money at last years top 5 they need fresh investment to avoid being left behind. Without it they run the risk of falling behind teams like Birmingham and, perhaps most painfully, Everton. I like Uncle Roy, but his appointment reeks of short-termism. They are unlikely to fall far this season, but I don't see progress being made. Anywhere between 6th and 12th depending on player sales and buys for me.