Only about a month before the PL starts, I was thinking what’s actually new in the PL. Which players, which managers, which clubs and which rules are new?
Let’s start with the 3 promoted clubs: WBA, Newcastle, Blackpool. WBA and Newcastle were relegated the previous season and are now back in the top flight. Welcome back! Blackpool however finished the last season sixth in the championship, which is their highest finish in the Football League since 1970/71, and claimed a spot in the play-offs. Blackpool then defeated Cardiff City 3–2 on 22 May in the Championship Play-off Final at Wembely to earn promotion. It will be Blackpool’s first appearance in the Premier League since the 1992 founding of the competition and their first appearance in English football’s top flight in 39 years. So Welcome Blackpool!
Now imma take a look at the new players and new managers of each club:
Arsenal: Manager: Arsène Wenger. IN’s: Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux), Wellington Silva (Fluminense FC), Laurent Koscielny (FC Lorient) OUT’s: Fran Mérida (Atlético), William Gallas, Mickaël Silvestre, Sol Campbell, Philippe Senderos (Fulham), Kerrea Gilbert, Eduardo (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Aston Villa: Manager: Martin O’Neill: No IN’s. OUT’s: Wilfred Bouma, Stephen O’Halloran (Coventry City), Marlon Harewood, David Bevan (Walsall FC), Andy Marshall, Barry Bannan (Blackpool)
Birmingham City: Manager: Alex McLeish IN’s: Enric Vallés (NAC Breda), Nikola Zigic (FC Valencia), Ben Foster (ManU) OUT’s: Gary McSheffrey (Coventry City), Artur Krysiak (Exeter City), Grégory Vignal, Franck Queudrue, Lee Carsley (Coventry City) Christian Benitez (Santos Laguna)
Blackburn Rovers: Manager: Sam Allardyce No IN’s. OUT’s Andy Haworth (Bury FC), Steven Reid (WBA)
Blackpool: Manager: Ian Holloway IN’s: Barry Bannan (Aston Villa) OUT’s: Stephen McPhee, Ben Burgess (Notts County)
Bolton Wanderers: Manager: Owen Coyle IN’s: Martin Petrov (Man City), Robbie Blake (Burnley FC) OUT’s: Nicky Hunt, Ricardo Vaz Té, Gavin McCann, Ivan Klasnic (FC Nantes on loan)
Chelsea: Manager: Carlo Ancelotti IN’s: Yossi Benayoun (LFC) OUT’s: Belletti (Fluminense FC), Joe Cole (LFC), Michael Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahce)
Everton: Manager: David Moyes IN’s: Jan Mucha (Legia Warszawa), Jermaine Beckford (Leeds), João Silva (Despotivo Alves), Magaye Gueye (Racing Strassburg) OUT’s: Carlo Nash (Stoke), Dan Gosling (Newcastle) John Ruddy (Norwich City)
Fulham: Manager: Ray Lewington (so far it’s him) IN’s: Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Jonathan Greening (WBA) OUT’s: Wayne Brown (Bristol Rovers), Elliot Omozusi (Leyton Orient), Erik Nevland (Viking FK Stavanger), Chris Smalling (ManU), Stefano Okaka ( AS Roma on loan)
LFC: Manager: Roy Hodgson: IN’s: Joe Cole (Chelsea), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liège), Danny Wilson (Glasgow Rangers), Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton Athletic) OUT’s: Robbie Threlfall (Bradford City), Fabio Aurelio, Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea), Albert Riera (Olympiakos), Emiliano Insua (Fiorentina)
Manchester City: Manager: Roberto Mancini IN’s: Yaya Touré (Barcelona), David Silva (FC Valencia), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio Rom), Jérôme Boateng (Hamburg SV) OUT’s: Martin Petrov (Bolton Wanderers), Sylvinho
Manchester United: Manager: Fergie IN’s: Chris Smalling (Fulham), Chicharito (Deportivo Guadalajara) OUT’s: Zoran Tosic (ZSKA Moscow), Ben Foster (Birmingham City)
Newcastle United: Manager: Chris Hughton Dan Gosling (Everton), James Perch (Nottingham Forest) No OUT’s.
Stoke City: Manager: Tony Pulis IN’s: Carlo Nash (Everton) OUT’s: Amdy Fayé, Andy Griffin (Reading)
Sunderland: Manager: Steve Bruce IN’s: Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul), Simon Mignolet (VV St. Truiden), Marcos Angeleri, Titus Bramble (Wigan) OUT’s: Conor Hourihane (Ipswich Town), Roy O’Donovan (Coventry City), Daryl Murphy (Celtic Glasgow) Lorik Cana (Galatasaray)
Spurs: Manager: Harry Redknapp IN’s: Sandro (Sport Club Internacional) OUT’s: Jimmy Walker, Eidur Gudjohnson (AS Monaco on loan)
WBA: Manager: Roberto Di Matteo IN’s: Pablo Ibañez (Atlético) Steven Reid (Blackburn) Gabriel Tamas (AJ Auxerre) OUT’s: Filipe Teixeira (Metalurg Donetsk), Jonathan Greening (Fulham)
WHU: Manager: Avraham Grant IN’s: Thomas Hitzlsberger (Lazio Rom), Pablo Barrera (UNAM Pumas), Frédéric Piquionne (Olympique Lyon) OUT’s: Guillermo Franco, Ilan
Wigan: Manager: Roberto Martinez IN’s: Antolin Alcaraz (FC Brügge) Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes de La Plata), James McArthur (Hamilton Academical) OUT’s: Titus Bramble (Sunderland), Richard Kingson, Paul Scharner, Vladimir Stojkovic (Sportin Lissabon on loan)
Wolves: Manager: Mick McCarthy IN’s: Steven Fletcher (Burnley), Stephen Hunt (Hull City), Jelle van Damme (Anderlecht), Steven Mouyokolo (Hull City) OUT’s: Jason Shackell (Barnsley), Chris Iwelumo (Burnley), Andrew Surman (Norwich City)
I tried to get as much new IN’s and OUT’s as possible also with the transfer window still open.
Last but not least to the new rules: Well the vuvuzelas were banned from the PL (Good job! Wanna hear the Kopites sing!). There is still no video technology. In the PL 4 referees will remain the same but in CL there will be 2 extra referees like in the Europa League. (I know it’s not bothering us,’cause we’re anyway in the Europa League and know that these to extra officials are only annoying)
You’ll Never Walk Alone
-Nina