AFC Bournemouth
My only hope for the season is continued survival in the Premier League. Bournemouth have kept Callum Wilson and, although they lost Matt Ritchie to Newcastle, he’s been replaced well with the slightly overpriced Jordon Ibe. Even more importantly, manager Eddie Howe has stayed. In Burnley, Sunderland and a newly chaotic Hull City, there are three clubs we should finish above – and this season we’re without the added pressure of being newly promoted.
The main ambition will be to improve on last season, particularly towards the end, when we relaxed too much. If we can avoid any notion of a relegation battle, that’ll be a step up on last season. That has to be Howe’s main focus. We don’t need to challenge for Europe or even the top half of the table. Knowing where we stand – as still the smallest club in the league – means we can avoid delusions of grandeur.
Off the pitch I’m hoping to see the beginning of the expansion at Dean Court. I can sympathise with the idea of not getting carried away after winning the Championship, but we should take advantage of new funds. An 11,000-capacity stadium isn’t enough for where we are. Liam Searle
Arsenal
The usual pre-season calls for a defensive midfielder and a striker have been partially heard this summer, with the signing of Granit Xhaka. But that frontman who scores at least 20 goals a season remains elusive. This might not be Arsenal’s biggest problem though – I believe there is too much mental fragility in the team. Last season the league was lost in a costly defeat to Southampton on Boxing Day, with no leaders stepping up in the rain to grab the points.
Arsène Wenger needs to install a win-at-all-costs mentality to go alongside some beautiful build-up play. The seasons have all ended up the same – great work in for two thirds of the campaign and then coming up short when it really matters at the end. With some amazing managers joining the Premier League this summer, was last year a missed opportunity? Dave Gardiner
Burnley
Staying in the Premier League this time would be good. It won’t be a Leicester City sort of season, but if the board can be persuaded to open their wallets, manager Sean Dyche might get enough quality to survive. Ronny Craven
Chelsea
I have high hopes that this season will be better than last year– it can’t be too much worse. I’ve been very impressed by new manager Antonio Conte so far and team morale seems much improved. Conte will get the best out of our underachieving stars, and Michy Batshuayi and N’Golo Kanté look like very solid additions. Kante in particular will be crucial in front of a still nervy-looking defence. I’m predicting, and desperately hoping for, a top-four finish. Sally Albright
Crystal Palace
Our successful FA Cup run highlighted many of our squad’s shortcomings as we staggered over the Premier League safety finish line last season. Ten wins on the board by mid-January would be a natural progression for this season, with a potential springboard to a top-half finish. We’ve had decent signings so far this summer in areas we needed to improve – Andros Townsend from Newcastle, James Tomkins from West Ham and Steve Mandanda from Marseille – but our squad still requires an additional striker to ensure a regular supply of goals. Bob White
Everton
This season I’m hoping that we wash away the awful performances and well-below-average finishes in the table. We need to return to basic defending under new manager Ronald Koeman and I’m hoping that his wealth of knowledge and experience will make this happen. In his time at Southampton, Koeman injected a combination of a solid defence and a potent attack.
Off the field we have the addition of the respected and talented Steve Walsh who will be able to find the best talent available. With the financial muscle of Farhad Moshiri, we should be able to acquire these targets. I’m very excited at the prospect of having a football legend in charge of my club and a structure that can finally secure us the silverware we’ve been seeking for the past 21 years. All in all a position back in the top six or a cup would be a good start to the Koeman era. Adam Ferguson
Hull City
We can only hope for survival – in every sense of the word! Our club has been eviscerated by the incomprehensible, self-defeatingly antagonistic actions of the owners towards the fans.
First we had the absurd attempt to change the name to Hull Tigers, which sounds like a circus act. To add insult to injury the new “membership” scheme has ended concessions for OAPs, children and disabled fans. We now have just 13 fit players and no manager. Optimistic? We try! We need new owners who are prepared to treat fans with respect. If anyone comes in with the right attitude, they will find that Hull City fans are loyal and passionate. It needs to happen soon or we’ll be effectively relegated before the first frost. James Hoyle
Leicester City
As a lifelong Leicester fan, 2015-16 was a fantastic season. You cannot get any better than being champions. This season will be one of consolidation. I can’t see them retaining the title against the big spenders, who have worked hard to destabilise the club during the summer transfer window. I’d be happy to finish 17th, but anywhere top half would be good. Our new signings need time to adapt to the pace of the English game.
I expect Leicester to look for early exits from the domestic cup competitions to focus on the Champions League and Premier League. Their style of play will cause real problems for European teams, as it did for Premier League teams last season. Anything is possible in the Champions League, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they reached the quarter-finals. Maybe the dream this season is a Champions League dream where the words again could be: “This really is happening”. Barry
Liverpool
If you offered me fourth place and a cup right now, I’d snap your hand off and kiss it. I have no doubt that we have the manager we want in Jürgen Klopp. He’s as marvellously mischievous as the city of Liverpool itself.
As always, success this season will come down to the results of eight fixtures – the home and away games with the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal. That is not to discount Leicester or Spurs, but if the former constitute a 24-point mini-league of their own, the goal must be 16 points. Secure that and surely the Champions League beckons. Sadio Mané is our best summer signing. He performed brilliantly in my fantasy football line-up last season, so I am delighted that Klopp and I share the same sentiment. Hubert O’Hearn
Manchester City
I want to see us play good football again: heroic defending, great counter-attacking play and tactical awareness of our opponents. If we deploy the above, I’m sure the club will look significantly better in a year’s time. If passion is shown by our players, I’ll have nothing but pride for the team. It’s as simple as that. In Pep we trust. Alasdair Bayman
Manchester United
Louis van Gaal was a failure. He set high but manageable expectations for himself, his club and his team, and then he failed to meet those expectations. He didn’t embody what Manchester United means. José Mourinho has that fire and that passion to create real leaders on the field who will follow his example.
Manchester United is about the greats and Mourinho has the passion, wisdom and drive to raise and nurture future great players at this club, while also managing the great players who are present now. We’re going to have a strong season this year and Mourinho will make the players want that for themselves, rather than wanting it to please their manager, like last season. I am not a betting man, but anyone can see that Manchester United will snag a Champions League spot with ease and may once again contend for the title. Grant Wood
Middlesbrough
Getting a train home from Kings Cross after a play-off final defeat is never easy, and you start to wonder if you will ever be playing with the big teams again, but last season was outstanding. I can’t describe the joy and relief of being back in the Premier League. It’s so important we stay there this year. The Championship is very difficult to get out off, but we have finally given ourself an opportunity to re-live “the good old days”.
Steve Gibson has once again backed the club and in Aitor Karanka we have one of the brightest young managerial talents in Europe. With the quality we have brought in, and perhaps another defender, we have given ourselves a real chance to go and have an exciting season. A decent cup run and a finish outside the bottom six would be a fantastic achievement. Bring it on, and Up The Boro! Andy McCarten
Southampton
Doing well in Europe must be our aim this season. And finishing in the top four would be be a dream come true for Saints fans. The new manager, Claude Puel, seems very positive and, while we’ve lost good, strong players, we’ve kept many too. Building on a strong team from last year, with the decent signings we’ve made already, will hopefully mean success in the league this season. Katherine
Stoke City
My hopes for the season:
- Manager Mark Hughes continues to strike the perfect balance – improving the team once more but not by so much that he is plucked away by one of the (even) richer clubs.
- Xherdan Shaqiri scores a goal that makes his Euro 2016 effort look like a tap in.
- Charlie Adam scores a goal that makes his inside-his-own-half effort look like a tap-in.
- Glenn Whelan scores a goal.
- The roof does not blow off the stand, which happened the last time things were going too well, back in 1976. It wasn’t insured and it has taken us 40 years to get back to where we were then. David Carr
Sunderland
The season will start with the manager not recognising his players’ best assets and capabilities. The players not will recognise the manager’s style demands. This confusion will result in the team storming up the league. Once the player/manager understanding develops, there will be a mid-season hiatus with a plummet down the league giving the fans an all too familiar feeling, before everyone is happy to end the season in mid-table mediocrity. Sam Basian
Swansea City
The increasingly forlorn hope is that we’re not going to sleepwalk through another transfer window and will instead invest seriously in a squad that showed last season that it isn’t immune from becoming involved in a relegation battle. We got away with it last year, but I doubt we will get away with it again.
We are well short of established strikers. One hopes our new owners splash the cash and Huw Jenkins has his customary rabbits ready to pull out of the hat. Otherwise it could be a long old season. Gary
Tottenham
I don’t expect us to dominate the way we did last season, but we should be a top-four team and put up a fight in the Champions League. In Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama we have solid backups in areas we lacked depth in last season. Our continuity compared to other teams should give us an advantage, particularly early on in the season. Chelsea and the Manchester clubs will have some growing pains with their new managers, and I expect us to benefit from that by achieving a top four place. We have the potential to go even higher. Rye Bails
Watford
Walter Mazzarri’s 5-3-2 will bamboozle everyone and new signing Christian Kabasele will win gushing praise from chin-stroking Match of the Day 2 pundits, only for us to be found out after Christmas with club-record signing Isaac Success proving to be anything but. Nevertheless, we’ll survive again and hire a new glamour name to keep us up in 2017-18. Guy
West Brom
We have a real shot at leading the league in shots blocked. We were second last season, only four behind Palace. Last season we were last in touches, passes and shots on target. We were second to last in shots and goals. With Aston Villa gone, it will be interesting to see if we can sweep all those categories this season.
James McClean’s red cards are something to look forward to. He kicks people with a real flair. I’m hoping that Saido Berahino doesn’t pull a Peter Odemwingie and go for a drive around another club’s car park on transfer deadline day. Young striker Jonathan Leko is the most exciting thing to look forward to at The Hawthorns this season, so Tony Pulis will probably loan him out. Evilaundria
West Ham
There’s been an influx of outrageously talented managers this season but hopefully we’ll reach new heights with a healthy squad – that means you too Andy Carroll. Slaven Bilic’s second season looks to be an exciting one with the creativity and immense class we have within the squad. We can expect another season of attractive football. And we still have Dimitri Payet - the most exciting player in Europe. Paolo
