Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews the upcoming 2024/25 EPL with his league finishing position predictions. If you are a Liverpool fan, you may want to be prepared for some bad news! You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta and his Young Guns are back for another crack at trying to overhaul Pep Guardiola’s Man City following two successive seasons finishing 2nd in the Premier League.
Good luck with that Pep 2.
In-
David Raya (£27 Million) has signed a permanent deal with the Gunners after spending last season on loan from Brentford.
Surely that will mean Aaron Ramsdale needs to find another club as sitting on the Emirates bench is not going to progress his career.
Especially with the fact that Arsenal have brought in the ex-Brentford and Wolves Goalkeeper Dan Bentley, plus the ex-Ajax Stopper Tommy Setford.
It’s rumoured that Newcastle want to take Aaron on loan but once Nick Pope is back fit, then the same scenario will happen, that being Mr Ramsdale will be sat on the Newcastle bench.
Mikel Arteta has bolstered the Gunners Defence by signing the Highly Rated Bologna Defender Riccardo Calafiori for around £42 Million.
Out-
Mohamed Elneny – released
Cedric Soares – released
Nuno Tavares – Lazio, loan
Albert Sambi Lokonga – Sevilla, loan
Opening Game Fixture-
Wolves-Home
Betfred offer Arsenal at 7/4 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Arsenal at Odds On 1/7 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 2nd
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery went early in the Transfer Window and signed Ross Barkley from relegated Luton Town.
Ross had a season-long loan spell at Villa Park back in 2020/21 so the surroundings will be familiar to the lad.
There was a further capture from another relegated team, him being Cameron Archer re-signing from Sheffield United.
Like Ross, the Striker is familiar with the Villa Park surroundings having been with Aston Villa since a youngster but was sold last season to the Blades for the brief spell in the Premier League.
Unai then decided to bring Cameron back.
Ian Maatsen comes in from Chelsea via a loan spell with Burnley and Borussia Dortmund where Ian started in the Champions League Final but suffered a defeat against Real Madrid.
Another ex-Villa player Jaden Philogene comes back after a few years away, signed from the Championship club Hull, after a spell on the East Coast.
Lewis Dobbin and Amadou Onana join Villa from Everton so at least the lads will have something to talk about with the ex-Toffee Ross Barkley.
Amadou commented-
‘We also have a manager that’s one of the best in the business and I think he can take my game to the next level.’
Sean Dyche was over the moon with that sentence!
A month or so ago, the Belgian showed his absolute class off the pitch when doing an interview with a French Journalist whilst at the Euro’s in Germany.
Speaking comfortably in French, the Midfielder had, what one can only be described as an idiot from England, interrupt.
The Belgian was left visibly frustrated after the Baffoon Reporter called him ‘Andre’ in a post-match interview.
Switching quickly to speak in perfect English, a lot better than many English people, Amadou responded,
‘Andre is not even my name, Mate.
Do you know what I mean?’
Calmly rebuking the journalist who had been trying to get his attention.
André Onana, whom Amadou had been mistaken for, is the Cameroonian (Not Belgian) Goalkeeper for Manchester United.
The video has gone viral online and fans have been marvelling at Onana’s seamless switch from French to a clear English accent as he addressed the Idiot Reporter.
Well played Amadou, who speaks 5 languages.
In-
Amadou Onana- Aston Villa £50 Million
Ian Maatsen – Chelsea, £37.5 Million
Jaden Philogene – Hull City, £20 Million
Cameron Archer – Sheffield United, £14 Million
Lewis Dobbin – Everton, £10 Million
Ross Barkley – Luton, undisclosed
Enzo Barrenechea – Juventus, undisclosed
Samuel Iling-Junior – Juventus, undisclosed
Out-
A few notable players that have departed Villa Park-
Douglas Luiz – Juventus, £21 Million
Omari Kellyman – Chelsea, £19 Million
Philippe Coutinho – Vasco de Gama, loan
Moussa Diaby – Al Ittihad, undisclosed
Calum Chambers – Cardiff City, free
Opening Game Fixture-
West Ham-Away
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 66/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 3/1 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 5th
BOURNEMOUTH
Andoni Iraola gets another chance to work with his Cherry Players after the boys showed a vast improvement over the latter half of the 2023/24 campaign.
Luis Sinisterra signed a permanent contract from Leeds United after last season’s loan deal.
Daniel Jebbison comes in from relegated Sheffield United, along with a couple of others.
In-
Luis Sinisterra – Leeds, £20 Million
Dean Huijsen – Juventus £18 Million
Enes Unal – Getafe, £14 Million
Alex Paulsen – Wellington Phoenix, £2 Million
Daniel Jebbison – Sheffield United, £1.5 Million
Koby Mottoh – Portsmouth, free
Out-
Kieffer Moore – Sheffield United,
undisclosed
Lloyd Kelly – Newcastle, free
Jamal Lowe – Sheffield Wednesday, free
Joe Rothwell – Leeds, loan
Opening Game Fixture-
Nottingham Forest-Away
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 500/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 33/1 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 10th
BRENTFORD
This could be a defining season for Thomas Frank and Brentford after 3 relatively successful years in the Premier League.
In the last campaign, it’s fair to say that the Bees did struggle at times, eventually finishing in 16th following a 13th place finish in 2021/22 and 8th in 2022/23.
Last year’s struggle could be attributed to the Ivan Toney ban from August to January.
It’s now whether Ivan will stay a Bee or be sold on.
At the moment, Mr T is a Brentford player but the question is, for how long?
Especially with the Transfer Fee being put at around £30 Million.
Relatively small change in today’s market, for a guy who will score goals, especially penalties.
That said, the new signing Igor Thiago, who was possibly brought in to replace Ivan, has picked up an injury and will be out for most of the season, which could mean, Ivan Toney stays at the GTech Stadium.
In-
Igor Thiago – Club Brugge, £30 Million
Benjamin Fredrick – Simoiben, undisclosed
Julian Eyestone – Duke Blue Devils, free
Out-
David Raya – Arsenal, £27 Million
Shandon Baptiste – Luton, free
Saman Ghoddos – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Crystal Palace-Home
Betfred offer Brentford at 500/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Brentford at 4/1 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 17th
BRIGHTON
Roberto De Zerbi decided that his time at the Amex would come to an end following the 2023/24 campaign where Brighton finished in 11th place.
As with what the Seagulls usually do, the hierarchy threw in a curveball for the New Manager, appointing the relatively unknown Fabian Hurzeler, the ex-boss of FC St Pauli, who won the Bundesliga Division 2 Title last season and are set to play in the German Promised Land for the upcoming campaign.
Fabian is 31 years old.
John Newsome has a pair of jeans older than Fabian, granted they don’t fit anymore but one lives in hope.
In-
Yankuba Minteh – Brighton, £25 Million
Mats Wieffer – Feyenoord, £25 Million
Ibrahim Osman – Nordsjaelland, £16 Million
Malick Yalcouye – IFK Gothenburg, £6 Million
Out-
Adam Lallana, now 36 years old, has been released by Brighton and has rejoined his old team and the newly promoted Southampton.
Opening Game Fixture-
Everton-Away
Betfred offer Brighton at 150/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Brighton at 16/1 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 11th
CHELSEA
Mauricio Pochettino decided to leave Stamford Bridge after just one season at the helm of Chelsea.
There was conjecture as to why Mauricio left, whether it was because of the Blues Transfer System, finishing 6th or the lad’s face just didn’t fit, however, whatever the reason, ultimately Mr Pochettino is away and is on the (supposed) shortlist for a number of positions including the England job.
Chelsea are now under the guidance of the ex-Leicester Manager Enzo Maresca who, after guiding the Foxes to the Championship Title, headed South to West London, wasting no time at all in going back to the King Power Stadium and signing Kiernan Dewsbury Hall.
In-
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – Leicester, £30 Million
Estevao Willian – Palmeiras, £29 Million
Omari Kellyman – Aston Villa, £19 Million
Marc Guiu – Barcelona, £5 Million (not to be mistaken for Marc Guehi)
Tosin – Fulham, free
Renato Veiga – FC Basel, undisclosed
Caleb Wiley – Atlanta United, undisclosed
Out-
The Old Boy and Legend, Thiago Silva has left Stamford Bridge and headed back to his Home Country to play for the Brazilian club Fluminense.
Chelsea will improve following Thiago’s departure.
That’s not to disrespect the legend but it has been documented in this EveryTip column before, that although Mr Silva has been a great player, Father Time does eventually catch up on us all and whilst the rest of the team didn’t necessarily do this on purpose, subconsciously passed the ball to TS, knowing it was ‘safe’ however, subsequently slowed the passage of play down.
Chelsea should be more dynamic next season.
Lewis Hall’s loan move to Newcastle has now become a permanent Transfer, with the Magpies paying £28 Million.
Hakim Ziyech has made his loan move to Galatasaray a permanent one as well.
Ian Maatsen – Aston Villa, £38 Million
Omari Hutchinson – Ipswich, £18 Million
Opening Game Fixture-
Man City-Home
Betfred offer Chelsea at 12/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Chelsea at 5/4 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 8th
CRYSTAL PALACE
Oliver Glasner gets a full pre-season to work with his Eagles after transforming Crystal Palace at the back end of the last campaign.
Palace were the 4th best form team over the final 10 games behind Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea so the Ultras will be hoping that Oliver’s Army continues their improvement.
Marc Guehi starred for England at the Euro’s so it will be interesting to see if Crystal Palace can hold onto the Defender with the lads’ stock rising.
Eberechi Eze had a couple of cameo appearances for the Three Lions over in Germany and didn’t let England down, whilst Dean Henderson and Adam Wharton were unused by Gareth but in the case of Adam, certainly would have benefited from the experience and will be back in an England Shirt sometime soon.
In-
Chadi Riad – Barcelona, £14 Million
Daichi Kamada – Lazio, free
Jemiah Umolu – West Ham, free
Out-
Michael Olise has left Selhurst Park and joins up with Vincent Kompany and Harry Kane at Bayern Munich for a Transfer Fee of around £51 Million.
A couple of other Eagles that have departed are James Tomkins and Jairo Riedewald, who, in the case of James, the faithful will no doubt wish ‘all the best to’ for the future.
Opening Game Fixture-
Brentford-Away
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 200/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 28/1 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 9th
EVERTON
It could be another arduous season for everyone connected with the Toffees following Financial Dealings and the fact that the club haven’t been sold, with the deal from 777 falling through.
There was talk of a New Buyer, him being Dan Friedkin but one doesn’t want to get involved in a very complicated saga.
Almost immediately after writing that, Dan decided to pull out of the deal to buy Everton which would suggest that there will be a few more players that are sold to balance the books.
Sean Dyche has already had to sell to free up some money, with Amadou Onana leaving, along with talks of Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin possibly being sold too.
The forgotten man, Dele Alli is still a Toffee despite being out of contract and not playing for over a year.
The lad is back in training with the view of getting a new deal.
In-
Jesper Linstrom – Napoli- loan £21 Million
Tim Iroegbunam – Aston Villa, £9 Million
Jack Harrison – back on loan from Leeds
Iliman Ndiaye – Marseille, undisclosed
Omari Benjamin – Arsenal, free
Out-
Amadou Onana- Aston Villa £50 Million
Lewis Dobbin – Aston Villa, £10 Million
Ben Godfrey – Atalanta, £10 Million
Andre Gomes – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Brighton-Home
Betfred offer Everton at 500/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Everton at 15/8 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 15th
FULHAM
It’s been pretty quiet for Marco Silva’s Cottagers in the Transfer Window.
There have been a couple of departures but for the time being, there’s only one new in at Craven Cottage.
That will no doubt change in the coming weeks, with the ex-Fulham player Ryan Sessegnon rejoining on a free and Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe in talks to join.
Plus there is the possibility that Fulham could tempt Manchester United into selling Scott McTominay.
In-
Ryan Sessegnon – free
Out-
Joao Palhinha – Bayern Munich, £47 Million
Bobby Decordova-Reid – Leicester, free
Opening Game Fixture-
Manchester United-Away
Betfred offer Fulham at 500/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Fulham at 11/2 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 13th
IPSWICH
Kieran McKenna has overseen back-to-back promotions for the Tractor Boys who were languishing in mid-table of League One or Division 3 in old money, back in 2021.
The ex-Manchester United Coach was being linked with the United position if the hierarchy at Old Trafford were serious about sacking Erik Ten Hag.
Chelsea were also interested in Kieran but the lad has and quite rightly in John Newsome’s opinion, signed an extension to the contract at Portman Rd.
As this is a Premier League Preview, a few of the readers won’t be aware of Ipswich Town who haven’t been in the Top Flight since 2002, however, were one of the Founder Members of the Premier League in the inaugural season back in 1992.
After being relegated at the end of the 1994/95 campaign the Tractor Boys, as they are affectionately known, due to the area where Ipswich is located (Suffolk- a Farming County) gained Promotion back to the Promised Land following a Play-Off Final victory over Barnsley at Wembley in May 2000.
John Newsome remembers the game well, being in attendance at the Old Wembley Stadium, seeing his beloved Super Reds suffer a heartbreaking defeat by a 4-2 scoreline.
Ipswich managed another 2 seasons in the Premier League before relegation at the end of the 2001/02 campaign and have been in the Championship and League One ever since until Kieran McKenna took over and got the Suffolk club back in the Top Flight.
Back in March 2020, during the first Coronavirus lockdown, John Newsome and EveryTip published an article about,
‘The Greatest Premier League Football Games of All Time!’
One of the games detailed was the following, please enjoy-
‘Saturday 4 March 1995
MANCHESTER UNITED 9 v IPSWICH 0
Although these two teams were at the opposite ends of the Premier League table with United at the top and Ipswich at the bottom, Ipswich did actually beat United by a 3-2 scoreline at Portman Rd earlier on in the 1994/95 season, so despite United being favourites at home, no one expected Sir Alex’s Red Devil’s to beat George Burley’s Ipswich by 9 (Nine) goals to nil.
Ipswich had Lee Chapman upfront who at the time must have been aged close to 50!
Only joking, Lee was 35 in March 1995.
Lee was a Top Striker in his day and won the 1991/92 Division One Title with Leeds United in the season prior to the inaugural Premier League start of 1992/93.
As well as a footballer, Lee is also famous for marrying the Men Behaving Badly actress Lesley Ash.
Lee had a stellar career which started in 1978 and finished shortly after this drubbing by United.
In the Ipswich starting eleven back in March 1996 was a certain Neil Thompson who played at Left-Back.
Neil had been at Portman Rd since 1989 and had appeared over 200-times for the Suffolk club.
When the season finished and despite the reoccurring nightmares from the United-9, which does sound like a group of Manc Scally’s on trial, Neil joined Barnsley FC and with 27-appearances for the Yorkshiremen, gained promotion to the Premier League, playing in the historic game against Bradford that sealed the Reds promotion to the Promised Land.
Neil started 3-times in the Premier League for Barnsley before moving on but will always be welcome at Oakwell and is a legend to the faithful.
The game against Manchester United, however, is one Neil will probably want to forget.
In October 2019, Leicester beat Southampton by the same scoreline of 9-0.
Prior to that, it was this game at Old Trafford, almost 30-years ago that held the record for the highest Premier League victory.
Roy Keane got the scoreboard going by scoring the opener after just 16-minutes.
‘Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy, Andy Cole, when he gets the ball he scores a goal, Andy, Andy Cole’ scored United’s 2nd in the 24th-minute and the 1st of his 5-goals in the match.
So clearly Andy does indeed score goals.
Mr Cole the Goal scored his 2nd and United’s 3rd before the break, to take the Red Devils in 3-0 up at the interval.
Andy rounded off his hat-trick in the 53rd-minute, a minute before Mark Hughes got in on the act and scored United’s 5th.
Ipswich were now reeling with not even an hour played.
Big Hughesy scored his 2nd and the Red Devil’s 6th, 5-minutes after his opener.
Cole the Goal decided that he had gone too long without netting, 12-minutes to be correct and scored his 4th and United’s 1,2,3-7th, with still half an hour or so to go.
Seven Nil was great for the United faithful, yet Paul Ince decided that wasn’t enough and made it 8 in favour of Sir Alex’s boys.
With seconds remaining Ipswich thought they had got away with just an 8-0 thrashing.
Not so, Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy scored his 5th and United’s history-making 9th to record the biggest Premier League victory which took nearly 25-years to match.
What was interesting in the game, not that the 9-0 scoreline wasn’t interesting, was Roy Keane actually played as a Right-Back, however, not much defending was needed from Big Roy who didn’t need to wash his shirt afterwards.
Another interesting fact from back in the day of the 9-0 victory was only 2-substitutions were allowed in 1995, from 3-chosen on the bench.
Nowadays, 3 can be used from 7 named in a match-day squad of 18.
The youths will be scratching their heads thinking ‘Only 2-subs??’
In the near future, if Football reconvenes, there will be 5-substitutes brought in, with 1-being used in the event of a head injury.
Let’s hope that rule doesn’t get abused.
Following the 9-0 drubbing of Ipswich, United went on to finish 2nd in the 1994/95 Premier League table, pipped by a single point on the final day by Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn.
Pipped because Blackburn actually lost their final fixture and United just needed to score a winner against West Ham to claim their 3rd-successive Premier League title.
Unfortunately, West Ham held out for a 1-1 draw against United and despite the loss against Liverpool, Blackburn won the Premier League title.
United won back the title in the following 1995/96 season to make it 3-titles from 4.
Even winning the 1996/97 title making it 4 from 5, however, again couldn’t make it 3-in a row when Arsenal sealed the title in 1997/98, the year Barnsley FC ended their one and only stint in the top flight by being relegated back to the Championship.
The 9-0 victory against Ipswich is still a Premier League record with Leicester only managing to match that in 2019, scoring 9 against Southampton.
Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy, Andy Cole.’
Manchester United have subsequently added their 2nd and a 3rd 9-0 scoreline, also smashing 9 past Southampton in a Premier League fixture back in 2021.
Kieran and his Tractor Boys will be hoping that none of the Top Boys smash anywhere near 9 balls into the Ipswich net.
In-
Liam Delap – Man City, £20 Million
Omari Hutchinson – Chelsea, £18 Million
Jacob Greaves – Hull, undisclosed
Darragh McCann – Glentoran, undisclosed
Arijanet Muric – Burnley, undisclosed
Leon Elliott – Crystal Palace, free
Ben Johnson – West Ham, free
Out-
Gassan Ahadme – Charlton, £1 Million
Silva Mexes – Manchester United, free
Kayden Jackson – Derby, free
Sone Aluko – retired
Opening Game Fixture-
Liverpool-Home
Betfred offer Ipswich at 1000/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Ipswich at Evens 1/1 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 18th
LEICESTER
With Enzo Maresca guiding Leicester to the Championship Title and promotion to the Premier League, then leaving the King Power to take over at Chelsea, the Foxes have brought in the ex-Nottingham Forest boss, Steve Cooper.
It will suit Steve as Nottingham and Leicester are geographically quite close to each other so the lad won’t need to move houses.
As with the other promoted teams, it will be a tough old season for Leicester.
In-
Abdul Fatawu – Sporting, £17 Million
Bobby Decordova-Reid – Fulham, free
Michael Golding – Chelsea, undisclosed
Caleb Okoli – Atalanta, undisclosed
Out-
A few notable departures from the King Power Stadium are-
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – Chelsea, £30 Million
Marc Albrighton – released
Kelechi Iheanacho – released
Denis Praet – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Tottenham-Home
Betfred offer Leicester at 1000/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Leicester at Odds On 1/2 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 20th
LIVERPOOL
The New Era at Anfield starts under Arne Slot following Jurgen Klopp’s departure.
It’s fair to say that Arne has Big Shoes to Fill and will be hoping that Jurgen hasn’t thought the immortal words of,
‘I’ll be back!’
John Newsome just wishes to apologise for that attempt to connect Arne Slot with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Jurgen won’t be back!
In-
It’s a bit quiet at Anfield for the time being with a rumour that the ex-Toffee Anthony Gordon is a possible target.
Following Klipperty out of the door are-
Out-
Thiago Alcantara – released
Joel Matip – released
Adrian – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Nottingham Forest-Home
Betfred offer Liverpool at 8/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 8/15 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 6th
MAN CITY
It would be remiss of this EveryTip column not to offer a few words regarding the Euro’24 Final, especially with Roadie Rodri and the ex-City Players Aymeric Laporte and Ferran Torres taking home the Trophy, whilst Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden picked up a Runners-Up Medal.
By the way, the Barnsley Beckenbauer was outstanding in the Final that England narrowly suffered a defeat against Spain by a 2-1 scoreline.
Gareth Southgate has decided to leave his position as England Manager which wasn’t really a surprise.
It’s now a question of who follows Gareth into the very ‘Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Seat!’
This is just John Newsome’s opinion-
The New England Manager will be another safe option (again!)
Lee Carsley, the England Under/21 Manager, will more than likely be given the games in August as the FA won’t have made a decision by that point and then, most probably, will be given the job on a full-time basis (it’s what happened to Gareth Safegate!)
The thing is, the England Faithful have been here too many times and have had this for 50-plus years.
England have the players but like Morecambe and Wise famously said,
‘We have all the right chords just not necessarily in the right order!’
England have always had the players but it’s a generational thing.
In John Newsome’s lifetime, England had Glenn Hoddle but the Manager preferred Ray Wilkins.
England had Gazza in 1998 but Glenn Hoddle thought he was better and wanted to make another agenda.
England had Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Michael Carrick but the relevant Managers wanted square pegs in round holes, just to appease the individual.
After the disastrous performance from Roy Hodgson at the Euro’s in 2016 and Sam Allardyce’s 100% one-game/one-win ratio before downing a Pint of Wine and heading for the concrete, Gareth Southgate gave a bit of hope to the Nation but in 2018, just lacked something.
GS worked on that!
In 2021, after the horrendous Coronavirus situation, Gareth was ‘the one’ but wouldn’t play Jack Grealish when it was crying out for him.
In 2024, Mr Southgate wouldn’t even take Jack Grealish to Germany.
Still, everyone had their own opinion and agenda and to be fair to Gareth Southgate, the lad believed in his system, believed in who and how was the way forward.
Which at times worked.
England slowly progressed to the Final, like Phil Collins once warbled.
‘Against All Odds!’
England lost by a 2-1 scoreline in that Final, against the best team in the tournament, the Three Lions matched Espanya Por Favor for long periods but ultimately succumbed to a late goal.
There wasn’t any disgrace or Penalty Shootout defeat, it was simply a case of coming second, again.
One thinks it will always be this way for England.
The Football Association (FA) won’t ever pick a Brian Clough, a Harry Redknapp, or a Sam Allardyce (and when they do will easily get rid!)
A person that the majority of the England fans want because one is used to suffering heartache, the Three Lions faithful don’t ever expect to win.
Unfortunately, England have become a Nation where one is happy that the ‘Lionesses’ have become equally as important as the ‘Lions’ (they are not by the way!)
Does one hear the Scottish, Welsh or Irish mention their Woman’s football team?
Or for that matter Spain.
Sorry, one better reverse out of that Cul-De-Sac.
Luis Rubiales!
No, because they are normal folk and realise that the Women’s game is a different sport.
Yet ‘ooooh no!
You can’t say that about England Womens Football!
Them girls are heroes!’
In some people’s minds, they probably are.
Yet England have become a Nation of always wanting to win but daren’t, we are too scared.
All one has heard after the Euro heartache is the England Women’s team getting a 0-0 draw against Sweden.
Two words
Who
Cares?
It will continue under the same system.
Lee Carsley-
Even Talksport, who are supposedly the Number One Sports Media Outlet, said,
‘Lee Carsley isn’t English!’
Because he played for Ireland?
Hello!
Lee is English and was born in Birmingham.
However, that doesn’t mean England will win anything under him and that is in no way disrespecting the lad.
John Newsome will always believe in England until the day he dies!
After the Euro Final, John was under an increased amount of scrutiny.
One had to put up with English people openly wanting England to lose just to say,
‘I told you so JB!’
Insert rude word sounding like Bankers.
England will always fail because of that failure mentality.
As mentioned.
John Newsome is not on about the abuse received by the loveable OzScot.
Kylie is entitled to, the lads Scottish, the most they have won is the IRN BRU Trophy back in 1977.
It’s the English people that John Newsome can’t comprehend, the ones who send abusive messages after the loss against Spain, which was a tight 2-1 affair, literally inferring that it was one’s fault.
Not a defeat by a 9-0 scoreline!
These imbeciles are actually glad that England lost as it’s easier to offer up blame.
John Newsome has no answers regarding the next England Manager but one does think it will be the safe option of Lee Carsley, then the heartache will continue.
But JB will never stop believing!
It will eventually ‘Come Home!’
Pep’s High Flying Blues will be there or thereabouts when the Premier League Trophy is handed out next May, plus won’t be far from any of the finals of the Cup Competitions.
In-
Savio – Troyes, £34 Million
Out-
There are rumours that Ederson will be on his way out of Manchester along with Kalvin Phillips but at the moment, both are still at the Etihad.
Kalvin did start in 2 out of 3 pre-season games against Celtic and Barcelona, plus coming on at half-time against AC Milan over in America but continued his losing streak with City suffering defeats in all 3 games.
Even missing a penalty in the shootout against Barcelona.
The Leeds Lad must have definitely been in contact with a Black Cat and was rumoured to be straight on the phone with his ex-West Ham mate Kurt Zouma, for a bit of advice.
Interestingly, Kalvin played as a Centre Back against Barcelona.
Erling Haaland has had game time in America scoring in both of the opening games against Celtic and Milan, however, doesn’t look 100% and was taken off at half-time against Milan and Barcelona.
There was then a game against Chelsea after this column was published but the next significant fixture is on the 10th of August in the Community Shield against the Numpty Neighbours Manchester United, with revenge on the cards following the defeat in the FA Cup.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – Southampton, £20 Million
Liam Delap – Ipswich, £20 Million
Tommy Doyle – Wolves, £4 Million
Sergio Gomez – Real Sociedad, undisclosed
Opening Game Fixture-
Chelsea-Away
Betfred offer Man City at 6/5 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 1/9 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 1st
MANCHESTER UNITED
Despite it being assumed that Erik Ten Hag was to be sacked at the end of last season, the Old Trafford hierarchy have decided to give ETH another chance and a new contract.
The surprise victory against Man City to win the FA Cup obviously swayed that decision as if a defeat occurred, Erik would be making an appointment at the Manchester Job Centre.
It does set up another Manchester Derby in the historic Community Shield fixture at Wembley on August 10th, a week before the 2024/25 Premier League Season kicks-off.
A quick note on the dreaded VAR, the Offside Decision should be cleared up quicker this year (an average of 31-seconds quicker) as there won’t be any need to draw lines etc because the Premier League have introduced the Semi-Automated-Offside-Technology (SAOT) for the upcoming season.
However, the SAOT won’t be active until at least September or October, so the first few games of the campaign will still see the Stockley Park brigade getting their rulers out and drawing wonky lines just to stop a goal.
It’s been mooted that Old Trafford is beyond repair and won’t be redeveloped, which offers up the possibility of a New State of the Art 100,000 Seater Stadium, on the ground adjacent to Old Trafford.
Obviously, that’s for the future.
In-
Leny Yoro – Lille, £59 Million
Joshua Zirkzee – Bologna, £37 Million
Matthijs De Ligt (Bayern Munich) is still a potential target but at the moment is not in Manchester.
Three Dutchmen coming into Old Trafford are Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Jelle Ten Rouwelaar (Goalkeeping Coach) and Rene Hake who have joined ETH’s coaching staff.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Tra-La-La-La-Lar.
United are in advanced talks to sign the Bayern Munich and Moroccan Defender Noussair Mazraoui, depending on whether Aaron Wan Bissaka gets his potential move to West Ham.
One player that could have an impact is Jadon Sancho who returns to Old Trafford after his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund that did culminate in an appearance in the Champions League Final, all be it, ending up on the losing side.
It is good to see that common sense has prevailed and the rift between Erik and Jadon looks to have been put to bed.
Added to that, the new infrastructure at Old Trafford has changed with Dan Ashworth coming in as Sporting Director, Jason Wilcox has been appointed as Technical Director and Christopher Vivell is the Interim Director of Recruitment.
Which probably means the extras of sorting ‘none football stuff’ such as arguing with a Player who is on £300,000 a week, have been taken away from Erik Ten Hag and the Dutchman now just has to coach the team to produce results on the pitch.
Having said all that, it was then rumoured that Paris Saint-Germain are interested in buying Jadon plus his mate Bruno Fernandes.
At the moment both are still at Old Trafford, however, as with all the potential dealings in the Summer Transfer Window, things can change in the blink of an eye.
Watch this space.
Scott McTominay and Casemiro are still in Manchester but both could leave before September with a number of clubs interested in the pair, Saudi Arabian ones in the case of Cassie.
There are a few stand-out players that have left Manchester.
One notably bringing an end to a promising career that was stalled due to circumstances this EveryTip column doesn’t want to repeat.
A statement from Manchester United read-
‘Mason Greenwood has left Manchester United and joined French club Olympique de Marseille on a permanent transfer.
The 22-year-old English forward, who spent last season on loan at Getafe in Spain, made 129 appearances and scored 35 goals for United since making his debut in 2019.
We wish Mason all the best in his future career.’
A disturbing story emerged recently which sort of connects with the comments from the Man City Preview above and reiterates the narrative.
Basically, it just stated that Manchester United’s New Part-Owners, Sir Jim Radcliffe and Ineos, who are Multi Millionaires/Billionaires and have made countless Business Decisions over the years, to earn said Millions/Billions, are supposedly not prioritising the Manchester United Women’s Football Team!
Not the Men’s team that they part bought the club for.
The girls are upset that they are not the priority.
That is sort of indicative of what’s wrong with the English Men’s Game.
Out-
Mason Greenwood – Marseille £21 Million
Willy Kambwala – Villarreal, £10 Million
Donny van de Beek – Girona, £8 Million
Raphael Varane – released
Anthony Martial – released
Brandon Williams – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Fulham-Home
Betfred offer Manchester United at 25/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Manchester United at 15/8 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 4th
NEWCASTLE
Eddie Howe is being linked with the vacant England Manager’s Job but it would be a surprise if Mr Howe left St James Park, with the day-to-day running of a club more attractive than being in charge of the National Team.
However, that’s the narrative for the time being but that could change in the future.
If one looks at the signings below, Eddie has brought in 2 Goalkeepers, Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy, which suggests that Martin Dubravka could be on his way out of the club, especially after starring for Slovakia at the Euro’s in Germany.
Odysseas Vlachodimos does remind John Newsome of the old Disco Favourites Chaka Dimos and Pliers.
Bam Bam.
In-
Lewis Hall – Chelsea, £28 Million
Odysseas Vlachodimos – Nottingham Forest, undisclosed
Lloyd Kelly – Bournemouth, free
John Ruddy – Birmingham, free
Out-
Elliot Anderson – Nottingham Forest, £35 Million
Yankuba Minteh – Brighton, £30 Million
Paul Dummett – released
Matt Ritchie – released
Loris Karius – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Southampton-Home
Betfred offer Newcastle at 25/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Newcastle at 7/4 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 7th
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Nuno Espírito Santo gets a full pre-season with his Tricky Trees having been appointed at Nottingham Forest well into the 2023/24 campaign.
Forest are known for buying players and have already fetched a couple in to bolster up the squad.
The faithful should be excited by the acquisition of Elliott Anderson who comes in from Newcastle, where it was widely known that Eddie Howe didn’t want the lad to leave.
Eric Da Silva Moreira comes in from FC St Pauli, who won the 2023/24 Bundesliga 2 Title under the New Brighton Boss Fabian Hurzeler and are set to play in the German Top Flight.
That said, the German Youngster didn’t play any games for the Champions but obviously Nuno sees something in the lad.
It will be a tough old season for the Tricky Trees but in theory, Forest should be safe from relegation as there are at least 3 teams who are not of the same level.
In-
Elliot Anderson – Newcastle, £35 Million
Nikola Milenkovic – Fiorentina, £12 Million
Eric da Silva Moreira – St Pauli, £2 Million
Marko Stamenic – Red Star Belgrade, undisclosed
Carlos Miguel – Corinthians, undisclosed
Out-
Odysseas Vlachodimos – Newcastle, undisclosed
Moussa Niakhate – Lyon, £27 Million
Orel Mangala – Lyon, £20 Million
Remo Freuler – Bolgona, £3.4 Million
Felipe – released
Cheikhou Kouyate – released
Wayne Hennessey – released
Harry Arter – released
Scott McKenna – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Bournemouth-Home
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 500/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 9/4 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 16th
SOUTHAMPTON
Southampton come back to the Premier League after a 1 season hiatus in the Championship.
The Saints, along with the Foxes and the Whites were all relegated from the Top Flight at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
It looked for all purpose that Leicester and Leeds United were on their way back to the Promised Land, however, despite Leicester doing their bit to return, it was then only one of Leeds United and Southampton that could get promoted as the pair faced each other in the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley.
The Saints Manager Russell Martin was a Norwich player and Captain of the Club back in 2017 when the current Leeds United Manager Daniel Farke took over at Carrow Rd.
It’s fair to say that the pair didn’t get on and within months, Russell found himself out of the club and up the road playing on loan at Ibrox for Rangers.
Poor lad.
Mr Martin never played for Norwich again and it could be assumed understandable that the lad would bear a grudge.
So it was probably considered ‘sweet revenge’ when Southampton gained the victory over Leeds United back in May, to progress to the Premier League.
Russell Martin 1 Daniel Farke 0.
Like Leicester and Ipswich and the majority of the teams that come up from the Championship, it is always going to be a tough old season but no doubt the Saints will enjoy the experience, especially making the 770 Miles-11 Hour round trip up to Newcastle for the opening game of the season.
Southampton welcome back the old boy Adam Lallana, who may not play every game but will bring experience to the club and when gets the opportunity, won’t let the team down.
In-
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – Manchester City, £20 Million
Flynn Downes – West Ham, £18 Million
Ben Brereton-Diaz – Villarreal, £7 Million
Ronnie Edwards – Peterborough, £6 Million
Yukinari Sugawara – AZ Alkmaar, £5 Million
Nathan Wood – Swansea, £3 Million
Adam Lallana – Brighton, free
Charlie Taylor – Burnley, free
Yukinari Sugawara – AZ Alkmaar, undisclosed
Out-
Romain Perraud – Real Betis, £3 Million
Stuart Armstrong – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Newcastle-Away
Betfred offer Southampton at 1000/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Southampton at 11/8 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 19th
TOTTENHAM
Ange Postecoglou went early in the Transfer Window, beating off a number of clubs to sign the highly-rated Leeds United player Archie Gray.
Although the fee is supposedly undisclosed, it’s thought that Tottenham have paid around £40 Million for the youngster who is comfortable in either Defence or Midfield.
Joe Roden, who was on loan at Elland Rd, has made that move permanent.
One knows one is getting old when a person can remember, not only watching Archie’s Dad play but also Archie’s Grandad and Great Uncle.
Frank and Eddie Gray are legends at Elland Rd, with Great Uncle Eddie (Frank is the Grandad!) playing and then becoming Manager of Leeds United.
Frank’s son, Andy Gray played for a number of clubs but is remembered fondly by John Newsome, wearing the famous Barnsley Jersey a few years ago.
A quick story regarding Archie Gray’s Dad,
Andy.
Back in January 2012, John, the Widster and Big Matty ventured down the road to the King Power Stadium to watch Barnsley take on Leicester in a Championship fixture.
At the time, neither club were pulling up any trees and both were languishing in mid-table.
Barnsley had a player on loan from Manchester United, in Midfield with Andy Gray up Front.
The Midfielder tore Leicester to pieces that afternoon, supplying two great assists for Andy to score twice, giving the Super Reds the victory by a 2-1 scoreline.
The next day, Nigel Pearson, the then Foxes Manager, rang Sir Alex Ferguson up at Old Trafford and asked to buy the Midfielder who as mentioned, was only on loan at Oakwell.
Sir Alex agreed and Leicester purchased the player on a permanent contract, which Barnsley couldn’t match.
The Midfielder in question was Danny Drinkwater.
Leicester eventually finished 9th in the 2011/12 Championship table, with Barnsley finishing in 21st place, just above the relegation zone.
The following season, Leicester made the Play-Offs but failed to gain promotion, however, came back stronger in the 2013/14 campaign and won the Championship Title, under Nigel Pearson.
In the 2015/16 season, at odds of 5000/1, Leicester won the Premier League Title under Claudio Ranieri, with Danny Drinkwater playing a pivotal role in Midfield to help the Foxes gain the Top Gong.
Like the ‘Sliding Door’ moment that happens in life, imagine if Danny hadn’t been on loan at Oakwell that cold January of 2012 and not ripped the Foxes apart providing Archie’s Dad with 2 assists.
Would Leicester have signed Double D?
Would Leicester have won the Premier League Title in 2016?
Something to ponder.
As for Young Archie, the lad is going to be a Superstar and with a bit of luck, will choose to play for England, the country of his birth and not Scotland like his Dad, Grandad and Great Uncle.
It is currently promising as the youngster has played for the Three Lions at youth level, including the Under/21s.
It won’t be too long before Lee Carsley, sorry, the New England Manager will include Archie in the Full Three Lions Squad.
Archie also has 3 younger brothers who naturally, all kick a ball around, so there may be a few more Gray’s coming through the ranks.
In-
Lucas Bergvall – Djurgarden, £9 Million
Archie Gray – Leeds, undisclosed
Min-Hyuk Yang – Gangwon FC, undisclosed
Timo Werner – back on loan from RB Leipzig
Out-
Troy Parrott – AZ Alkmaar, £7 Million
Eric Dier – Bayern Munich, £3 Million
Ivan Perisic – Hajduk Split, free
Joe Rodon – Leeds, undisclosed
Ryan Sessegnon – released
Japhet Tanganga – released
Tanguy Ndombele – released
Opening Game Fixture-
Leicester-Away
Betfred offer Tottenham at 33/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Tottenham at 9/4 to Finish in the Top 4.
Premier League Finish 3rd
WEST HAM
Julen Lopetegui has taken over from David Moyes at the London Stadium and wasted no time in bringing in a couple or three players, including Max Kilman from Julen’s old club Wolves and the ex-Sheffield United Goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.
With the Blades conceding the record amount of goals (104) in the relegation campaign of 2023/24 and Wes being responsible for 73 of those, the Bubbles faithful should be excited at seeing goals on their day out, mostly going into their own net if WF is playing.
In-
Max Kilman – Wolves, £40 Million
Luis Guilherme – Palmeiras, £25 Million
Wes Foderingham – Sheffield United, free
Out-
Said Benrahma – Lyon, £13 Million
Thilo Kehrer – Monaco, £10 Million
Angelo Ogbonna – released
Ben Johnson – Ipswich, free
Opening Game Fixture-
Aston Villa-Home
Betfred offer West Ham at 250/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer West Ham at 14/1 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 12th
WOLVES
Gary O’Neil gets a bit more time to work with his Pack of Wolves following last year’s start to his reign at Molineux.
Julen Lopetegui decided the Midlands wasn’t for him (Bit Harsh) and left a couple of weeks before the season started.
It was then left to Gary who had just been shown the door at the Vitality, being sacked by Bournemouth and replaced by Andoni Iraola.
So a Spaniard replaced an Englishman who in turn replaced a Spaniard.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but one could have taken from that scenario that Spain would face England in the Final of the Euro’s.
At the start of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign, watch out for a couple of Managerial changes and see whether one can guess who will be in the Final of the World Cup over in the Good Old U S of A (plus Mexico and Canada!)
For example, if Sean Dyche leaves Everton a couple of days before the season starts and is replaced by Mauricio Pochettino, then Sean takes over at Newcastle who were under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa (Eddie left to become the England Manager after Lee Carsley kept wearing an Ireland Shirt for training and was down the concrete!)
Then the Final of the 2026 World Cup will be between Argentina and England.
Obviously, that’s just a bit of fun and in no way an exact science but it’s worth considering.
Let’s come back to that in a couple of years.
For now, like Nottingham Forest, Wolves won’t trouble anyone in the Top Half of the Premier League but should have too much, especially under Gary, not to get embroiled in a relegation battle.
Watch that VAR though Mr O’Neil, the Stockley Park Brigade are not happy with the Molineux outfit after Wolves tried to get them cancelled.
In-
Rodrigo Gomes – Braga, £13 Million
Pedro Lima – Sport Recife, £8 Million
Tommy Doyle – Man City, £4 Million
Out-
Max Kilman – West Ham, £40 Million
Opening Game Fixture-
Arsenal-Away
Betfred offer Wolves at 500/1 to Win the 2024/25 Premier League.
Betfred offer Wolves at 100/30 to be relegated.
Premier League Finish 14th
The 2024/25 Predicted Premier League Final Positions-
1-MAN CITY- 1st
2-ARSENAL- 2nd
3-TOTTENHAM-3rd
4-MANCHESTER UNITED-4th
5-ASTON VILLA-5th
6-LIVERPOOL-6th
7-NEWCASTLE-7th
8-CHELSEA-8th
9-CRYSTAL PALACE-9th
10-BOURNEMOUTH-10th
11-BRIGHTON-11th
12-WEST HAM-12th
13-FULHAM-13th
14-WOLVES-14th
15-EVERTON -15th
16-NOTTINGHAM FOREST-16th
17-BRENTFORD-17th
18-IPSWICH-18th
19-SOUTHAMPTON-19th
20-LEICESTER-20th
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