STEVE CLARKE (West Brom) – Clarke is making the step up from being a number two to being the main man and that will be a key thing to look at this season. Clarke no doubt has plenty of quality and a keen football brain but West Brom will be in a relegation fight for a long time this season and their fans may well desire a more experienced manager to guide them through that. While West Brom do have some real quality players such as Ben Foster and Shane Long as well as the loan signing of Romelu Lukaku, they also look like a side who if they get on a bad run, could find it hard to turn round. Steve Clarke will need to get his side well organised and hard to beat because they are not going to blow anybody away. I would like Clarke to succeed as he has proved himself as a top level coach, but I really can see West Brom struggling this season.
CHRIS HUGHTON (Norwich) – The former Newcastle manager has made the move up from Birmingham and looks like a good fit for Norwich. Norwich performed brilliantly in their first season back in the Premier League under Paul Lambert and probably have the quality to survive again. They will require the same goal return from big man Grant Holt who should get more chances thanks to the signing of Robert Snodgrass. John Ruddy is a top keeper and I think Hughton has what it takes to keep Norwich up this year. While they will be in the relegation fight for a long time this season, I think in the end they will survive quite comfortably.
MICHAEL LAUDRUP (Swansea) – At the start of the summer I was predicting second season syndrome to strike Swansea. However they have had a decent enough time in the transfer market. Brian Laudrup has been brought in to replace Brendan Rogers with Swansea claiming he plays a similar style of football to Rogers. They have signed Michu who was a star of La Liga last year as well as De Guzman who is a good midfielder. I don’t expect Swansea to finish as high this time as they did last year but at the same time I think they will have more than enough to be a comfortable distance from relegation.
PAUL LAMBERT (Aston Villa) – Lambert could be the really interesting new appointment of the Premier League this year. Aston Villa are a side I expect to struggle. Possibly even struggle enough to make them genuine relegation candidates. The squad looks bare and lacking any real quality. Up front they will be ok if they can keep Agbonlahor and Bent fit. That is easier said than done but their goals could see Villa to safety. Lambert will need to find the kind of spirit that he generated at Norwich but that’s not easy to achieve when moving to a new club. Villa are one of England’s big clubs but lack investment and appear to be on a continuous slide that Lambert needs to halt. Villa could be top half or they could be relegated come May. It all depends on how well Lambert fares at Villa Park.