Premier League Preview: Tottenham Hotspur-Wolves

Tottenham Hotspur

The proverbial underachievers, Tottenham have really found a great manager in Harry Redknapp. Redknapp has been hugely successful wherever he has gone and finally got his chance to manage at one of the biggest clubs in the country early last season. Taking Tottenham from the bottom of the table to 8th was an incredible achievement.

Tottenham however always want more, they believe they should be in the Champions League. Whilst many fans of other teams think that this is an unrealistic goal, it seems that Tottenham and their fans will not be happy until they achieve it. Having been in Europe a few times they feel ready to make the next step and as a result old Harry will have to conjour up some more magic this season.

Selling your top scorer is not always the best move for a club but not many Tottenham fans seem too bothered to have lost Darren Bent, the £14 recieved has helped fund a move for Harry’s old faithful Peter Crouch as well as a couple of young Sheffield United starlets Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton for a combined £8 million.

Crouch will add an aerial threat but Spurs will have the same old problem of too many strikers, let’s hope that Jermaine Defoe, Roman Pavyluchenko and Robbie Keane do not mind sitting a few out. Without too many changes in the squad Spurs should be where they were last season.

Perhaps, Tottenham’s huge desire for success comes from other clubs like Everton and Aston Villa who have been unlikely contenders for Champions League places in the past couple of seasons. Perhaps, also their hunger is a result of fierce rivals Arsenal’s consistant top 4 finishes. Whatever it is Tottenham should not expect Champions League football and should be more than happy with a Europa Cup place which is a possiblilty.

Prediction 8th

West Ham

What a job Gianfranco Zola did last season. He took a dwindling club on the edge of disaster and turned them into a footballing wonder. Ok maybe that is a slight over statement but the little man from Italy has won over the Hammer’s fan’s hearts with their attractive football and good performances.

A 9th place finish was nothing short of brilliant after the sacking of Alan Curbishley, unease over resources and ownership had threatened to send the club down to the Championship. Zola stepped in and in only the way the little magician could he turned things around.

Davis Di Michele was signed and had an instant impact scoring twice on his debut, Zola even started to get the best out of serial underachiever Carlton Cole which has culminated in him being called up to the England squad.

Zola’s genius however can only go so far, with the only signing of the summer being Inter’s Luis Jiminez on loan, Hammer’s fans must be wondering if their team can progress this year. Jiminez is a class young act but cannot push the team forward on his own.

The loss of club captain Lucas Neill is huge and with no replacements coming in it is tough to see where West Ham will push on. If Cole reproduces last seasons form then the Hammers could repeat last seasons results.

Prediction  10th

Wigan Athletic

It all looked doom and gloom for the ‘Latics’ as they lost inspirational manager Steve Bruce. Bruce got them to an impressive 11th in the table and will forever be remembered for his time at the club. However, the up and coming young Roberto Martinez got the manager job and Wigan could be in for another decent season and most importantly they should stay well clear of relegation.

Many fans will be glad Martinez got the job as he did so well at Swansea but he is unproven at the level. Having never managed in the Premier League it is a gamble and one that does not always come off, as shown by the appauling performance of Paul Ince whilst managing Blackburn last season.

Martinez however has something about him, a certain sense of class and knowledge that fans love. The signings of Swansea goal machine Jason Scotland and Chelsea youth starlet Scott Sinclair could prove to be great aquistitions in the coming months.

The loss of Antonio Valencia and Henri Camara will be a test but Martinez has the tactical nouse to produce some surprisingly good results this season.

Prediction 11th

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves stormed the Championship last year and after making a lot of signings and managing to keep all of their best players they will believe they can stay up. Kevin Doyle is a great signing for a club this size and is guaranteed to bag a few vital goals, combined with the great Championship talent that is Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Wolves could score plenty of goals.

With no significant losses Wolves will look to get stuck in this season and maintain their Premier League status. A team who do so well in the Championship usually have an edge in the survival picture and Wolves should score enough goals to just about hang on in the Premier League.

Prediction 17th