Premiership Preview: Who's on the ball?
The Premiership begins on August 17 and the title race is set to be an open one
If there was one thing that was reaffirmed at this summer's brilliant World Cup in South Korea and Japan, it was that there are no certainties in football.
Sure, the tournament was eventually won by the best team on show, Brazil, but who would have bet that the thrilling third-place play-off the day before would have been contested between Turkey and the fanatical Korean hosts?
That is what is so great about the beautiful game. If you think about different sports, with the possible exception of boxing where a lucky right hook can knock out even the best of them, 99 times out of 100 the better team or player will win. Bad news, as we have seen on numerous occasions, for the likes of Tim Henman.
Not so with football. How many times have we seen the world's elite teams, boasting players earning astronomical sums of money, humbled by the unlikeliest of sides? France versus Senegal anybody?
It is this unpredictability that West Bromwich Albion take into their Premiership debut on August 17 when the Baggies from the Black Country step into the Theatre of Dreams against Manchester United.
Albion are not a team of household names - Daniele Dichio, Ruel Fox and Bob Taylor are the star players - but I am sure they will relish being thrown into the deep end on the opening day of the season.
Manchester United take to the field off the back of their worst Premiership season which they ended with faces as red as their shirts as Arsenal and Liverpool took the top spots. Third place, a dream for many teams, was not good enough by the high standards set by Sir Alex Ferguson and there have been rumblings of discontent among the prawn sandwich munchers in the stands.
This embarrassment means United will be at their most dangerous and with £29m Rio Ferdinand bolstering defensive frailties, Albion could be on the end of a backlash. But like I said earlier, and to plagiarise a famous footballing quote, "it's a funny old game".
Even if West Brom - the bookies' favourites for a swift return to the Nationwide League - produce the unthinkable and cause an almighty shock at Old Trafford, the race for the Premiership is over 38 games and not over one. Any initial jubilation can soon give way to the realisation that Premiership survival - and that is the ultimate goal of the new boys - is a hard slog over a gruelling nine months.
So how are the other new teams equipped for survival? Birmingham, who won a dramatic play-off in May to reach the Premiership, seem to have the finances and infrastructure to do better than their Midlands neighbours.
The Blues, led by former Manchester United favourite Steve Bruce, had been flirting with promotion for several seasons and summer signings Robbie Savage from Leicester and exciting striker Clinton Morrison from Crystal Palace, indicate a necessary blend of experience and youth.
No doubt it will be a difficult year ahead for Birmingham, but survival, and possibly the scalp of arch rivals Aston Villa, will constitute a great season.
Exciting seasons and Kevin Keegan go hand in hand - actually that is somewhat of an underestimate. Former England supremo Keegan experienced a rollercoaster ride when in charge of Newcastle and now he is the boss at Manchester City it seems like he is following a similar script. City walked away with Division One last year and despite conceding 52 goals, they scored a staggering 108 in reply.
Keegan is famed for attacking football, but strikers Darren Huckerby, Shaun Goater and Nicolas Anelka will have their work cut out to emulate last year's heroics. The loss of defensive stalwart Stuart Pearce will be a blow, but a fervent support and the prospect of a new stadium in a year's time - provided the shot putt divots from the Commonwealth Games have been replaced - should make them a safe bet to stay up.
OK, let's turn to the business end of the division. I've already mentioned the strengths of Manchester United, but what about champions Arsenal? With rivals United splashing out £29m on England defender Ferdinand, the Gunners decided to spend a little bit more conservatively - £2.5m on Pascal Cygan from Lille and Gilberto Silva from Atletico Mineiro for an undisclosed fee.
Winger Robert Pires - my player of last season - will be returning from injury and Thierry Henry will surely rediscover the goalscoring touch that deserted him and his French colleagues during the World Cup.
Arsenal will not be giving up their title without a fight but I've got a sneaky feeling that the honours will be returning North to either Old Trafford or to Anfield, where Liverpool have assembled a serious squad during the summer.
Manager Gerard Houllier, thankfully back to good health after last year's triple bypass operation, has plundered the French league and signed Senegal hero El-Hadji Diouf from Lens and Bruno Scheyrou from Lille.
The Reds will also be boosted by a rested and fit Steven Gerrard and the continuing attacking delights of Michael Owen. The almost telepathic defensive partnership of Sami Hyypia and Stephan Henchoz will only get better and give the Reds their best opportunity of the title in years.
I can't see the title not being won by one of the top three. Leeds, now managed by the flamboyant Terry Venables, seem to be in a period of transition and the summer has seen an exodus - or dramatic u-turn in the case of Lee Bowyer - of valuable players.
There is no doubting the pedigree of Venables as a manager but he has never had a team to challenge for the domestic title and I see this run continuing.
Pundits seem to write annually that "this year, is Chelsea's year". Indeed, the cosmopolitan side from West London did finish last season strongly and the attacking talents of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen were a delight to watch.
But Claudio Ranieri's men just seem to lack midfield guile and bottle over a whole season. Champions League qualification would be a successful campaign.
Talking of the Champions League, Newcastle United, who exceeded all expectations last year in claiming that vital fourth place, have a great chance of qualifying for the group stages. If this is the case then I feel that Sir Bobby Robson's men will be too preoccupied with trips to far-flung corners of the continent to mount a serious Premiership challenge.
Fulham and Aston Villa have already started their seasons - much to the annoyance of certain prima donna players, I'm sure - in the Intertoto Cup, the back-door route to the UEFA Cup. Fulham impressed last year, despite a poor finish, and have the necessary financial clout for a comfortable position again.
Teams that I fancy to struggle with the likes of West Brom and Birmingham include Sunderland, who survived by a whisker last term, and Bolton, who were one of the success stories of 2001/02, but will flirt with the trap door for most of the campaign.
Last year I tipped Charlton for the drop and I was delighted to be proved wrong. Alan Curbishley is a believer in attractive football and the Latics are one of the more likeable clubs around.
Surprise packages? Blackburn Rovers have assembled an experienced and exciting squad and if they can hold on to the prodigious talents of Damien Duff and David Dunn, have an excellent chance for a top 10 finish at least. The winners of the Worthington Cup have also spent in the summer and the capture of Dwight Yorke from Manchester United sees the popular Trinidadian - and even more popular page three model lothario - link up once again with Andy Cole.
I also see solid seasons for Southampton, who in recent years have shed the tag of last-day survivors, and Middlesbrough, who have signed Brazilian Juninho for the third time.
That leaves just three teams who are set for mid-table obscurity. Step forward Tottenham, West Ham and Everton, teams who on their day are a
