Some predictions

Right, this is my first official ‘news’ contribution to CollinsBeans...

At this stage I don’t have any ardent observations to share but I want to mark this momentous occasion with a debut post. First off, a big thanks must go to Matt C Stokes for getting this site up and running. Mr. Snelling and I may have the football knowledge (or so we think...) but we certainly don’t provide much on the artistic or design front. Matt Stokes has aided us before with his brilliant designs, and hopefully he will do so again in the future. Any fans of this site (surely there are at least a couple out there) should most definitely browse through Matt’s own blog and website, a link to which can be found at the bottom right of this site. You won’t be disappointed.

Moving on, I believe the best and hopefully most interesting thing I can do here is provide my personal predictions for this season. Not original I fully confess, but a good old prediction is ordinarily safe ground and could potentially provide some healthy debate. To keep this brief and save you from boredom, I‘ll stick to the Premiership and major tournaments for now, but further predictions may follow. As with every post that will appear on this site, please feel absolutely free to share your own opinions, whether you agree or not.

Top Six:

1. Chelsea
2. Manchester United
3. Arsenal
4. Liverpool
5. Manchester City
6. Tottenham

Relegated:

18. Hull
19. Burnley
20. Portsmouth

Top Goal Scorer: Rooney

FA Cup Winners: Chelsea

League Cup Winners: Aston Villa

Champions League Winners: Inter Milan

Pertinently it’s going to be tough justifying all those in a paragraph or two, and undoubtedly many people out there will disagree.

To briefly summarise – I believe the top half of the Premiership will be tight, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal all capable of winning. I feel Chelsea have the strongest squad out of those three though and have a hungry look that comes from three years of silverware malnourishment. Liverpool have all the experience when it comes to securing 4th spot, and it’s a season too early for Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham to claim that Champions League place. All three look very strong however, and next season promises to be fascinating, especially where City are concerned. Rooney has been superb this season, often carrying Manchester United through games. That makes him an obvious choice for top scorer. I have a really horrible feeling he’s going to get injured before the World Cup too – let’s hope I’m totally wrong.

In terms of relegation, Portsmouth have sadly looked doomed since day one. Brains Laws seems a poor appointment, and for that reason I believe Burnley will also go down. Nothing about the man’s CV or persona suggests he can keep a limited playing squad in the Premiership. The last slot was a toss up between Wolves and Hull, but I quite like the attitude of Mick McCarthy this season, so I’m plumping for Hull to go. McCarthy is taking no prisoners and Hull have never really convinced since January 2009.

Chelsea have to be the logical choice for the FA Cup with Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool all out. I believe their experienced squad will lift the trophy for a second season running. Villa are my tip for the League Cup, primarily because Martin O’Neill likes to win this one and I see him preparing his team well for the final.

Regarding the Champions League – this competition is always a lottery in my opinion, making it rather hard to predict. Look at last year’s Chelsea-Barcelona semi final, or 2004 winners Porto. On the subject of Porto though, I feel that Jose Mourinho might just get the job done for Inter this season, who have a very strong squad.

There you have it – somewhat of a whistle stop tour through my predictions, but if anyone wants me to elaborate further, please feel free to get in touch.