Last Updated on: 14th September 2023, 10:46 am
Welcome to part 5 of the Pendle Sportswear Premier League preview blog. In this post we will be looking at the prospects for Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United. Let us know what you think by commenting on twitter and facebook.
Swansea City
Players In – Marvin Emnes (undisclosed), Lukasz Fabianski (free), Bafetimbi Gomis (free), Stephen Kingsley (undisclosed), Jefferson Montero (undisclosed), Gylfi Sigurdsson (£8 mill).
Players Out – Ben Davies (£10 mill), Leroy Lita (released), David Ngog (released), Michel Vorm (£5 mill), Michu (loan), Daniel Alfei (loan), Gwiom Edwards (undisclosed), Alejandro Pozuelo (undisclosed), Chico Flores (undisclosed), Pablo Hernandez (undisclosed).
Swansea had a very mixed season last year, the expectations were high going in after an impressive first season in the Premier League, finishing 9th whilst also winning the League Cup. With the signing of Wilfred Bony amongst others few can blame Swansea fans for getting excited about the future. But with the additional games in the Europa League and 5 losses in their opening 10 games it didn’t start as they planned, and after a poor run of results in the middle part of the season, only gaining 6 points from 10 games Michael Laudrup was sacked and replaced by former Swansea player Garry Monk. The club finished 12th and also progressed through the group stages of the Europa League, losing in the round of 32 to Napoli.
This year could be a different affair, without the distraction of Europe they should do better, although the sales of goalkeeper Michel Vorm and Ben Davies to Tottenham and allowing Michu to leave on loan might hinder their chances, but they have bought well, bringing Gylfi Sigurdsson back to the club will delight the fans as he was a star player for them when he was there on loan a few seasons ago, Jefferson Montero is a tricky winger who might prove to be a great bit of business, and snapping up Bafetimbi Gomis on a free transfer could prove to be as astute as the signing as Michu a couple of seasons ago. Lukasz Fabianski has been brought in to replace Michel Vorm but only time will tell whether the club should’ve done more to keep hold of the Dutch keeper.
Swansea fans this season can expect a solid mid-table finish, the signings they have made should prove successful and if they can hold onto Wilfred Bony, he and Gomis could form a formidably strike force for Swansea this term leaving them fighting for the Europa League places. Another centre back to play alongside Ashley Williams is probably needed if they are to achieve this.
Pendle Prediction – 9th Place.
Tottenham Hotspur
Players In – Ben Davies (£10 mill), Michel Vorm (£5 mill), Erik Dier (£4 mill).
Players Out – Heurelho Gomes (released), Jake Livermore (£8 mill), Gylfi Sigurdsson (£8 mill), Alex Pritchard (loan), Grant Hall (loan), Iago Falque (undisclosed).
Tottenham endured a torrid season last season, selling their top player Gareth Bale and signing seven new players with the proceeds didn’t work in the London clubs favour.
Roberto Soldado only scored 6 goals, whilst record signing Erik Lamela was limited to 9 league appearances due to injuries and poor form. Paulinho didn’t prove to be as succesful as Spurs fans had hoped and the signings of Nacer Chadli, Vlad Chiriches and Etienne Capoue for a combined £24.5 million were more to bulk up the squad rather than improve the starting eleven. The only signing that proved a real success was Christian Eriksen, although he started slowly and didn’t get a regular place early on in the season once he had earned his spot he really started to show his potential.
Finishing in 6th place was poor for the club who would’ve been hoping to challenge for Champions League again, but selling their best player always meant it was going to be tough, and for the players that were brought in to not perform didn’t help, Andre Villas-Boas was sacked part way through the season and replaced by former player and under 21’s boss Tim Sherwood until the end of the season.
Mauricio Pochettino has been brought in this summer after an impressive season at Southampton, and Spurs fans will be hoping that he can bring the best out of the players that are at the club just like he did at Southampton. So far this summer Pochettino has tried to solve one problem that Tottenham had last season and that is by signing a much needed left back in the shape of Ben Davies from Swansea, the club have also signed Michel Vorm from Swansea as well, as a backup keeper to Hugo Lloris. Tottenham may be far from done in the transfer window, Morgan Schneiderlin has been linked with the club and has handed in a transfer request to push through a move, and also Jay Rodriguez has also been linked with following Pochettino to Spurs.
Spurs will need to sign another striker if they are going to have any chance of gaining a top 4 place, Soldado, Adebayor and Kane are unlikely to provide enough fire power, and Spurs may also look for another winger, assuming that Pochettino plays a similar system to the one he played at Southampton. Erik Lamela will need to step up this season and show people why Tottenham paid £30 million for him, and If Eriksen can continue the form he ended last season on, I think Spurs could be outside contenders for 4th.
Pendle Prediction – 6th Place.
West Bromwich Albion
Players In – Chris Baird (free), Craig Gardner (free), Brown Ideye (undisclosed), Joleon Lescott (free), Sebastien Pocognoli (undisclosed), Andre Wisdom (loan), Jason Davidson (undisclosed), Cristian Gamboa (undisclosed).
Players Out – Scott Allan (released), Zoltan Gera (released), Billy Jones (free), Diego Lugano (released), Steven Reid (released), Liam Ridgewell (released), George Thorne (undisclosed).
West Bromwich Albion suffered a dreadful season last season, with the club finishing in 17th place, narrowly avoiding relegation. Sacking manager Steve Clarke and replacing him with Pepe Mel didn’t have the impact the club had hoped for and they still struggled to get results in the league. Selling Shane Long half way through the season didn’t help matters either. Their top scorers were Saido Berahino and Stephane Sessegnon with only 5 goals each, which shows you that the club were really lacking a goal scorer.
This season it seems unlikely that West Brom’s fortunes will change, as they are still lacking a recognised goal scorer, despite signing Brown Ideye from Dynamo Kyiv, and I think the squad lacks depth. Some of the signings they have made should prove to be good signings for them, Chris Baird, Craig Gardner and Joleon Lescott are all good additions to the squad with plenty of Premier League experience, but they are surely going to need to sign a top striker to keep them in the division.
The club do have some decent players with the likes of Sessegnon, Berahino and Craig Dawson, but the squad still looks a bit thread bare so they will need to add more quality and experience if they want to survive this season.
With the clubs likely to be around them all improving their squads they will need to do something or they might be playing Championship football next season.
Pendle Prediction – 18th Place.
West Ham United
Players In – Aaron Cresswell (undisclosed), Cheikhou Kouyate (undisclosed), Diego Poyet (undisclosed), Enner Valencia (undisclosed), Mauro Zarate (undisclosed), Carl Jenkinson (loan), Diafra Sakho (undisclosed).
Players Out – Joe Cole (released), Jack Collison (released), Alou Diarra (released), Stephen Henderson (free), George McCartney (released), Matt Taylor (free).
West Ham were one of a number of clubs that were involved in a relegation battle last season even though they finished in 13th place they were only 7 points off the drop.
West Ham fans, I’m sure will say that they were never in trouble and after 27 games they were mid table and looking safe, but only 3 wins in the final 11 games meant they were drawn back into the battle. With Kevin Nolan being the clubs top scorer with only 7 goals, you can see why they struggled having Andy Carroll out injured for most of the season didn’t help them, and with their other attacking options only getting 9 goals between them they, like West Brom were lacking a goal scorer.
This summer West Ham have bought well, they have brought in two new forwards in Mauro Zarate, the former Birmingham strikers re-joins the Premiership hoping to do a little better than the 4 goals in 14 appearances he managed last time around, and Enner Valencia, the Ecuadorian forward was impressive in the World Cup, he managed 3 goals in 3 games but it wasn’t enough to help Ecuador progress. Cheikhou Kouyate has been brought in from Anderlecht his presence, strength and pace in the centre of midfield will definitely add to their team.
West Ham should be stronger than they were last season and a mid-table finish is on the cards for the club but they will need Valencia, Zarate and Sakho to hit the ground running to make sure they stay well away from a relegation battle especially as their main striker Andy Carroll is out injured and will miss at least the opening 3 months of the season.
Pendle Prediction – 11th Place.
So here is the complete Pendle Predicted League Table:
1. Manchester City
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Manchester United
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham Hotspur
7. Everton
8. Newcastle United
9. Swansea City
10. Hull City
11. West Ham United
12. Stoke City
13. Crystal Palace
14. Southampton
15. Queens Park Rangers
16. Aston Villa
17. Sunderland
———————————————-
18. West Bromwich Albion
19. Leicester City
20. Burnley
Read the other parts of our preview: