Top four, no excuses!!!

I purposely waited for the transfer window to close, I don’t like to comment on the “Will he, won’t he’s”…So now it is has closed here are my views…

I start with the current Premier League Champions. Losing arguably the best manager in the world, ever, cannot fail but to hurt. World Class players need World Class managers to lead, inspire and teach them and in David Mo-Yes I feel they have the worse manager in the top part of the league. He is in his 50’s and hasn’t won a thing, in fact, he’s hardly won a match against a top team. If he stays the whole five years, I doubt he will win more than one or two trophies and the Premier League will be way out of their reach. Furthermore, struggled to get the players they wanted, have no left back and Rio’s best days are behind him. Cleverly isn’t progressing the way they would have liked and Giggs has finally lost his legs. Really fail to see how they will dominate matches with that midfield and the outcome will be third-fifth.

One great manager out and another in, Jose Mourinho. In my opinion, one of the top managers out there at the moment although Pep Guardiola really does seem to have something over him. With arguably one of the best midfields and a decent squad of 5-6 defenders, their own vulnerability appears to be up front. Jose will see them to top two and probably Champions.

Onto another manager, Manuel Pellegrini…I really didn’t rate Roberto Mancini and now that he has gone, arguably the best squad of players may well gel better. They lack a little in defence and up front but have a phenomenal midfield. Got to be in the top two…

Onto our rivals and neighbours, one player may win you a few games but rarely win you a trophy and with such a lack of numbers, I really can’t see that trophy ending up in their trophy cabinet any time soon. As per Manchester United, they appear to be on a downward slide and if they lose their manager at the end of the season, they will find out how difficult he is to replace.

Brendan Rogers, wow…I really believe he has improved Liverpool immeasurably. Mignolet, Sakho, Coutinho, Aspas to name but a few. They’ve got rid of fringe players and replaced them with class and as much as it hurts me to say, they are on the up and up.

So that leads me to the Lillywhites…In keeping a young and inspiration manager, somebody who has already won trophies and adding Baldini, we have strengthened immensely. Sure we have problems, losing an irreplaceable player and major delays with the new stadium but on the pitch, we look strong. We have proven internationals all over our squad, winners with a mixture of youth and experience and in my opinion, we are much stronger than we were a year ago.

Onto my point, with the exception of Chelsea and Manchester City, I feel we are right up there. Possibly in the mix for third with Manchester United, as their experience is invaluable but Arsenal and Liverpool are just behind us. With our team, in that league, we are top four quality so without any excuses we should finish top four. With the strength in depth that we have, we should also be able to challenge for a cup and push teams all the way, possibly bringing silverware to the Lane but come what May, I won’t accept anything other than top four!

Your views are always welcome…

COYS