The new Premier League season is upon us and as usual there is a lot to look forward to.
For the first time ever, Sir Alex Ferguson will not be there to welcome the new Premier League season, having announced his retirement following Manchester United's 20th league title the season before. It will take some time seeing a face other than Fergie on the touchline yelling at a Manchester United team.
That face of course is David Moyes, who comes into job with plenty of endorsement from his fellow Scotsman but will still come under plenty of scrutiny. The pre-season results haven't really gone United's way but everyone knows that it's the league season that matters and that United will gel by the time they kick off their season at Swansea on Saturday.
The question marks over Wayne Rooney's future at Old Trafford will be somewhat answered by Robin van Persie and even new boy Wilfred Zaha who has featured prominently for the Red Devils in pre-season, suggesting he may feature in Moyes' game plans.
Never has there been so much managerial change at the head of the table in the off-season until now. Besides United, Chelsea and Manchester City have had managerial changes with quite a bit of input from Spain's La Liga.
Manchester City have brought in Manuel Pellegrini from cash-strapped Malaga with Pellegrini charged with bringing a more positive style of football to Eastlands than Roberto Mancini who appeared to lose the dressing room late in the season. There's no Balotelli there but there's still plenty of quality in new signings, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo and Steven Jovetic as well as regulars, Vincent Kompany and Gareth Barry, Alexander Kolarov. After all this is a City side that finished comfortably in 2nd and will be quite keen to win their 2nd title in 3 years.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have brought in a face from the past to bring in glories for the future. Jose Mourinho's departure from Chelsea was always a bit of a shock but in the meantime, he has done his cultural experience in Europe's two other big leagues and won titles along the way. Mourinho is probably the only man who can really bring success at a sustained level to Stamford Bridge, and one who can get the Chelsea fans unanimously behind him. Whether the style of football in west London becomes attractive to watch, remains to be seen.
With so much change at the top, Tottenham and Arsenal could fancy their chances of a real title push. Both sides have made strong title challenges at the start of the season, only to fade away after the New Year.
This must be galling for Arsenal fans who are not likely to see an end of their long title drought which stretches back to 2004 - their squad still lacks the depth it had back then and the depth of Chelsea, the Manchester clubs and even their fiercest rivals in North London.
Meanwhile, Tottenham will just be glad that Gareth Bale will stay at the club after a summer of being constantly linked with Real Madrid. Bale was the difference for Spurs last season and without his goals, Tottenham would not even have had a sniff at Champions League football - and might very well have lost a Europa League spot to Everton. More is expected from Andres Villas-Boas' men in season 2 now.
What about the outside contenders? Expect both Merseyside clubs to be in that group chasing the aforementioned 5 teams. It will be interesting to see if Roberto Martinez can maintain the momentum Everton built under David Moyes. They still have a decent squad at this stage but if Moyes can lure the likes of Baines and Fellaini to Old Trafford, then Everton's time in the top 10 could be over soon.
As for Liverpool, it is very difficult to say. Like Bale, their star striker, Suarez, has been linked every day with a move out of the club but looks likely to stay now. However, Liverpool appear to have built their squad well in case Suarez did move. Brendan Rodgers' side needs real consistency to push for even a place in Europe - forget about a title challenge this season, as Liverpool just don't quite have the financial power or influence as the clubs above them.
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The one other element that makes the Premier League so watchable is the battle to stay up. As expected, the newly promoted clubs, Cardiff City, Hull City Tigers (yes that's their name now) and Crystal Palace will be given the shortest odds on going down. Cardiff may have a good chance of staying up given they have quite some financial backing from their Malaysian owner and a good emerging manager in Malky Mackay. Hull can count on Steve Bruce's experience with Birmingham, Wigan and Sunderland to keep them up.
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Don't write off Crystal Palace yet. With manager, Ian Holloway at the helm, they could be the entertainers of the Premier League - as we saw with Blackpool a couple of seasons ago. They may very well miss Wilfred Zaha's quality though with Zaha now a United player, but expect plenty of fight from the South Londoners.
The gap between the best of the Championship and middle-to-bottom Premiership clubs has definitely closed so it is quite difficult to predict who will be in the relegation mix - and who could emerge out of that mix and end up sneaking a spot in Europe like Swansea or Newcastle.
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There will be some entertainment there for sure - and often it's better than the battle at the top. This time there's no Wigan Athletic to play as the Lazarus side - could Sunderland or Southampton be the side that has to do the Houdini act to stay up?
So bring on the Premier League for 2013/14! A new TV deal, a new song (probably - shame as Kasabian's Fire will go down as one of the best ever) and new clubs, players and kit!
About time too!
My tip for the table (and why for some) -
1.Chelsea - Mourinho's record in England is good, and the squad is already quite strong
2.Manchester United - it's quite a daunting task to replace Fergie, Moyes may very well just miss out
3.Manchester City
4.Tottenham Hotspur
5.Arsenal
6.Liverpool
7.West Ham United - some very good signings there, could be the surprise of the season
8.Everton - Martinez could be up and running towards the end of the season
9.Newcastle United - I reckon they've got the quality to come right back into the top ten
10.Aston Villa - could surprise this season with their young talented squad
11.Swansea City - Europe might be their downfall this season
12.Fulham
13.West Bromwich Albion
14.Southampton
15.Sunderland
16.Stoke City
17.Cardiff City
18.Norwich City
19.Hull City
20.Crystal Palace - not quite good enough to stay up
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