With the Premier League kick-off just around the corner, Goal.com is looking at how each of the 20 clubs are shaping up. This article features Gary Megson’s Bolton Wanderers.

2007-2008: Where It Ended

Wanderers found themselves in unfamiliar, relegation territory during a tumultuous last season. Admittedly, the Sam Allardyce era had been one of sustained over-achievement with limited resources, but only the most pessimistic of supporters would have predicted such a close encounter with relegation at the start of last season, especially with an attack spearheaded by the classy Nicolas Anelka.

Allardyce’s successor, Sammy Lee, struggled, as many managers do, to make the step-up from assistant. The majority of his purchases seemed to lack quality, and few established themselves as first team regulars. Not long into the season Bolton found themselves wallowing below league whipping boys Derby County, and the board decided Lee was not the man for the job. His replacement Gary Megson’s task was soon made more difficult with the loss of Anelka in the January transfer window. To some fans, the decision to make a quick six million pounds profit on Anelka provided evidence of the myopia of the Bolton board, but in reality there was little they could have done once Chelsea came knocking.

Many fans felt aggrieved after Megson put out a second-string in the Uefa Cup defeat against Sporting Lisbon, justifying it with the importance of ensuring Premiership survival, but then losing to local rivals Wigan in the next game. Currently, the manager by no means has the universal approval of the Bolton faithful, but he must be given credit for maintaining Bolton’s Premiership status. For one thing, Megson brought in Gary Cahill, whose solid presence at the back and reliable partnership forged with player of the season Andy O’Brien was vital to the side’s survival.

Towards the end of last season it looked as if Bolton’s Premiership future could hinge on a last day encounter at Stamford Bridge. Doom and gloom descended over the Reebok after Wanderers capitulated having been two nil up against ten-men Arsenal. A four-nil drubbing at the hands of Aston Villa compounded a sense of fatalism among fans, but seemed to galvanise Megson’s men for a fine run in. Three victories against Wigan, Middlesborough and Sunderland as well as a draw with Spurs meant survival was ensured before the final day encounter with Chelsea, which also ended in a surprise 1-1 draw.  A huge sigh of relief was felt at the club and Megson was assured by chairman Phil Gartside and owner Eddie Davis that the proceeds of the Anelka sale and more would be provided to ensure that such a close shave would not happen again.

Summer Activity

The board have kept their word and provided more funds than ever before. It seems bizarre that they feel  Megson warrants such financial backing, when they never supported Allardyce in such a way. There has been somewhat of a midfield exodus this summer - Guthrie was not signed permanently, Campo, Braaten, Diouf, Stelios and Andranik have also moved on. Many of these players were admittedly only squad players but the remaining skeletal selection of midfielders leaves Bolton over-exposed to the effects of any injuries.

Of the players in, Elmander will be the most eagerly awaited. He looked uninspiring playing on the right in the European Championships but it would be unfair to judge him on that alone, especially as he will almost certainly play as a striker this season. Fans must hope he settles in and settles quickly as his goal-scoring form will probably be what the success of Bolton’s season hinges on. Muamba, although perhaps a bit expensive, will definitely add steel to the centre of the park. The pacy Mustapha Riga will be expected to fill the void left by the most noteworthy departure of the summer, El-Hadji Diouf.

Megson has also had a complete overhaul of the backroom staff at the Reebok over the summer, the most notable recruit being new first-team coach, Steve Wigley, who left his post with England the Under-21s to join Wanderers.

Analysis & Prognosis

By no means does the £20 million outlay this summer mean that Bolton will be pushing for Europe again. What it should mean is that they stay up. It will not however be easy, but they will be aided by the weakness of the newly-promoted sides around them. Last term, Bolton had a terrible start to their campaign and were playing catch-up from then on. This season they have an easier start, with games against Stoke, Newcastle, West Brom and Fulham first up. A decent start against these clubs will be vital, if they are to avoid a similar plight to last season.

Andy O’Brien and Gary Cahill have forged a solid partnership at the back and the Icelandic international, Steinsson, was impressive last year at right back. J-Lloyd Samuel or Ricky Gardner will complete a solid back four in front of stalwart Jussi Jaaseklainen, now he has ended the speculation regarding his future. If Megson opts for a 4-4-2, then Muamba will do the graft in the centre, allowing club captain Nolan to push forward and try to support Elmander and Davies with goals as well as assists. Nolan will be, as always, trying to push for an opportunity at international level. Matty Taylor, who took time to settle, but was much improved towards the end of last season, should play on the left and chip in with a few of his trademark spectacular strikes. Fans will hope that Riga fits in on the right, although Gavin McCann will be able to do a job if he struggles to adapt to Premiership football.

A major concern is their reliance on Elmander up front. Although not being in Europe this time will ease pressure on the squad, a lack of depth is also a major worry. The acquisition of another quality midfielder looks essential if they are not to be exposed in that department. If fans are thinking that Bolton’s expenditure this summer will propel them back into the top half of the table, where they became accustomed to spending their time with Allardyce at the helm, they should think again.  If Bolton can get off to a good start, then they can look toward a solid mid-table finish. If they do not, then this season, like the last, could be a struggle.

Coach: Gary Megson

Stadium: Reebok Stadium (27,879)

2007/08 Position: 16th

2007/08 Record: P- 38 W- 9 D- 10 L- 19 GF- 36 GA- 54 Pts- 37

Players In: Elmander (Toulouse, £10 million), Muamba (Birmingham City, £5 million), Riga (Levante, undisclosed), Shittu (Watford, undisclosed).

Players Out: Braaten (Toulouse, undisclosed), Andranik Teymourian (Fulham, free), Stelios Giannakopoulos (released), Ivan Campo (released), El Hadji Diouf (Sunderland, £2.5m), Meite, (West Brom, £2M)

Possible-Line-Up: Jaaskelainen – Steinsson, Cahill, O’Brien, Gardner – McCann, Muamba, Nolan, Taylor – Davies, Elmander.

Ref From Tom Mathew - goal.com

With an exciting new edition of the Premier League now upon us, Goal.com looks at how each of the 20 clubs are shaping up. In this article, we feature WBA…

2007-08: Where It Ended

“Back where we belong”. These are the words that adorn the home page of West Bromwich Albion’s website, after they reached the “Promised Land” thanks to winning the Championship last season. Prior to the 2007-08 season everyone expected the Baggies to set the division alight and run away from the other contenders. However, this simply wasn’t the case.

At times throughout the season it appeared as though the stylish play of Albion would see them reach that next level and leave the competition behind, but a good result was often followed up by a bad result. They just couldn’t really maintain any kind of consistency and thankfully for West Brom, nor could the rest of the league. Stoke City and Bristol City were the main culprits: they reached the summit of the division and then seemed to hit the proverbial wall.

Despite the Baggies failing to string a number of impressive results together they all but sealed promotion with one game to go when they drew 1-1 with Southampton, giving them a three point lead over their rivals and a far superior goal difference. Albion then confirmed their place in the Premiership by beating QPR on the final day of the season, beating the London outfit 2-0, thus claiming a spot in the Premier League and finishing as champions, lifting their first trophy in forty years.

In addition to Albion’s fine league season, they also had very impressive cup run which would have exceeded the expectations of the club and fans alike. Sadly, for the West Brom faithful they fell short in the semi-final against Portsmouth, even though they played the far superior football. Albion were plagued by their usual downfall of not being able to take their chances.

Summer Activity

In the past the Baggies could easily have been accused of not giving everything in the off-season towards staying in the Premiership. This time round it seems to be a very different story, having spent around £13.5 million on new signings. Obviously, none of that matters if these expensive signings aren’t of a high standard but so far West Brom manager, Tony Mowbray, appears to have been very shrewd in the transfer market.

Knowing that Albion suffered from some serious defensive frailties last season, Mowbray immediately set about trying to bolster the back line. Something that especially needed to be done as star centre back Curtis Davies completed his move to Aston Villa, after having spent the season on loan at the Birmingham club.

One impressive signing is that of Gianni Zuiverloon, the Dutch Under-21 international who was named in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship “Team of the Tournament”. Zuiverloon is a competent right back who is not afraid of getting forward in order to support the midfielders and attackers, he had gained a lot of attention from clubs around Europe after his performance in the aforementioned tournament but he decided on plying his trade at The Hawthorns because he likes the style of football that Albion play.

On the other side of the back four Mowbray has signed Slovakian international Marek Čech from F.C. Porto, therefore he will have invaluable Champions League experience for the Portuguese outfit. Primarily playing as an attacking left wing back he, like Zuiverloon, will get forward at every opportunity.

More recently, the Baggies have obtained the man that they have been after for most of the summer, Abdoulaye Méité. One of the positives of such a transfer is that Méité has been playing at Premiership level for the last two seasons, as well as that, he was involved in a relegation tussle last season for Bolton Wanderers, therefore, he is more than aware of what it takes to battle and stay in the Premiership.

Behind the new defenders will be new goalkeeper, bought from Liverpool on a four-year deal, Scott Carson. While the front line has been helped by the signing of Luke Moore from West Midlands rivals, Aston Villa.

With new arrivals come departures, two key losses for Albion will be that of Kevin Phillips who bagged them 22 league goals last season en route to promotion, however there were always question marks as to whether he could still provide goals in the top division. Another loss that will seriously hurt the team is that of Zoltan Gera who has been one of the best and most influential players at The Hawthorns for the last few years.

Analysis & Prognosis

It is clear that Albion have tried to rectify some of their problems, however, despite the array of defensive signings they still appear to be very susceptible at the back. With the likes of Zuiverloon and Čech attacking when there is an opportunity, and sometimes when there isn’t, then you will often find West Brom’s defensive line stretched.

On top of that Méité is often prone to some stupid mistakes and at this kind of level mistakes will be punished on a consistent basis. The one shining light at the back is Scott Carson, no doubt he will have to face plenty of shots in the coming season but it would be fair to say that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premiership. Albion will be relying on him an awful lot to keep them in games and one would expect that more often than not Carson has the shot stopping capabilities to do just that.

Another serious problem is that they have failed to bring in a replacement for Zoltan Gera who would have given everything on the pitch for the club, so replacing a player of that nature is never easy. What is even worse for the Baggies in this situation is that Gera has jumped ship to fellow relegation candidates, Fulham, already giving the West London club an edge over them. With Gera gone, a lot of responsibility will rest on the shoulders of the club’s captain, Jonathan Greening, who will battle for every point and is capable of making a pass with amazing accuracy.

Up front, Luke Moore will more than likely cause opposition defences problems due to his outstanding pace that will trouble any defenders who are even slightly flat-footed. As well as his pace, many believe that he has it in him to find the net more often than he does, however, to date he hasn’t really fulfilled the promise of his youth days at Aston Villa.

In conclusion, one would expect that West Brom will struggle in the upcoming campaign as they still have some major weaknesses despite being busy in the transfer market. Major weaknesses that will probably see them relegated from the Premier League on yet another occasion, nevertheless, the Baggies will no doubt stay in touch with their adversaries and will push for survival all the way until the end of the 38th game of the season. Also, if Mowbray adopts the 4-5-1 formation he utilised in their last friendly against Mallorca then there is little hope, but he did change to 4-4-2 at half time, which brought with it better play and an equalising goal. 4-5-1 has been Albion’s downfall in the past, particularly under Bryan Robson, you have to hope that Mowbray has learnt from past mistakes

Coach: Tony Mowbray

Stadium: The Hawthorns (27,877)

2007/08 Position: 1st (in the Championship)

2007/08 Record: P-46 W-23 D-12 L-11 GF-88 GA-55 Pts-81

Players In: Luke Moore (Aston Villa), Kim Do-Heon (Seongnam Ilhwa Shunma), Gianni Zuiverloon (SC Heerenveen), Graham Dorrans (Livingston FC), Roman Bednar (Hearts), Marek Čech (FC Porto), Scott Carson (Liverpool), Abdoulaye Méité (Bolton Wanderers)

Players Out: Luke Steele (Barnsley), Zoltan Gera (Fulham), Martin Albrechtsen (Derby County), Curtis Davies (Aston Villa), Kevin Phillips (Birmingham City), Stefan Morrison (Swansea City), Luke Daniels (Shrewsbury Town)

Possible Line-Up: Carson – Zuiverloon, Barnett, Méité, Čech – Morrison, Greening, Koren, Kim – Bednar, Moore

Ref From Luke Broadbent - goal.com

With an exciting new edition of the Premier League now upon us, Goal.com looks at how each of the 20 clubs are shaping up. In this article, we feature David Moyes’ Everton.

2007-2008, Where It Ended

The 07-08 season saw a solid 5th place Premiership finish for David Moyes’ Everton and UEFA cup qualification.  It had been a decent season where injuries and the mysterious goalscoring form of Andy Johnson had put paid to the chance of breaking into the top 4.  Everton had lost their influential midfielder and goal threat Tim Cahill to injury sporadically throughout the season and Johnson was suffering from a bout of patchy finishing leading up to the close of the campaign.  However, these factors didn’t affect the desire of the team and some good performances, well-drilled defending and an organised midfield carried the side through.  Yakubu was scoring vital goals, 21 for the season, and the form of Stephen Pienaar, Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott were highlights of the season.

Losing Yobo, Yakubu and Pienaar to the Nations Cup was a minor blow at a crucial time, the importance of that month being highlighted by Moyes’ attempts to retain Pienaar until the 11th hour falling firmly on deaf ears. This was to eventually show in the league placings.

Still, there were positives. A very positive display throughout the UEFA cup campaign stood out, with Everton winning the group comfortably and the eventual winners, Zenit St. Petersburg, having been beaten by Everton in the group stage.  The Blues ended up going out of the competition to Fiorentina on penalties after one of the best games of the season at Goodison Park, with the Blues overturning a 2-0 deficit and being unlucky not to win the tie in open play.

Was the display in the UEFA cup better than expected?  I think so.  It’ll be difficult to recreate the dominance shown in the group stage of 07-08 into 08-09.  Everton are capable of progressing and with the lessons learned in the knock-out stage could see at least a semi-final appearance.  After all, Everton beat Zenit and could more than likely beat Rangers.

Back home, a decent run in the League Cup to the semi-final saw Chelsea being too strong over 2 legs, and a quality finish from Joe Cole ending Everton’s dreams of their first cup final for 13 years.

In retrospect, then, Everton had an excellent season overall.  2 serious cup runs and to finish 5th in the Premiership showed that David Moyes knows his stuff, both tactically and in the transfer market.  A strong spine to the team and goals from all areas ensured that the fans would be happy with the continued progression of the team and would give rise to confidence for a productive summer and some quality additions to the squad.  The loss of Alan Irvine to Preston North End however, was a little distressing but this was soothed somewhat by the appointment of Steve Round from Newcastle to sit at Moyes’ right hand.

Summer

Following the shop window that was Euro 2008 several players were linked with the great and the good of Europe’s top clubs.  Most notably for Everton was, and still is at the time of writing, the persuance of Joao Mountinho from Sporting Lisbon.  Mountinho had a good Euro 2008 with Portugal prompting admiring comments from the likes of David Pleat no less.  Several other players have been linked with Everton but all have fallen by the wayside, and with almost every other major premiership club making at least one major signing Everton have only confirmed the signature of Stephen Pienaar from Dortmund for a measly £2.05M.

The ageing but popular Lee Carsley called time on his Everton career by leaving on a free to Birmingham; Stefan Wessels was released; Vidarsson went to FC Twente on a free; and Gravesen, Fernandes and Gardner returned to their respective clubs on the completion of their loan deals.  Surprisingly, no permanent deal (or further loan) has been struck with Valencia to keep Manuel Fernandes at Goodison Park after he improved dramatically towards the end of the season and stated his desire to remain on Merseyside.  This is more than likely down to the new Valencia manager Unai Emery wishing to retain quality players after Los Che’s poor season under Ronald Koeman.

So far, David Moyes has been undone in the transfer market with many targets choosing to go elsewhere.  He seems to operating a patient game and hasn’t made any ‘panic’ buys which shows confidence that he is sticking to his guns and remains likely to bring in players he deems good enough to wear the Everton shirt.  Transfer speculation remains hot around Goodison with the most recent names linked being Alan Smith from Newcastle, Vagner Love from CSKA Moscow and Stephane M’bia from Rennes, but with statements from each of these players clubs claiming their player won’t be leaving to join Everton it is difficult to say who will be next new face at Finch Farm.

Looking Ahead

I’m never filled with confidence during pre-season as it normally disappoints and there was no change this season.  Of the 7 games played Everton have won only 2, against Preston and Colorado Rapids whilst managing to lose to FC Sion of Switzerland, Chicago Fire and most notably Cambridge United where sections of the Everton crowd were voicing their displeasure with the board.  Draws with Nottingham Forest and particularly PSV Eindhoven have boosted confidence slightly.

Thus far the summer has been disappointing and with only one week to go of the transfer window, the lack of new signings is unnerving to say the least, especially as Andy Johnson has jumped ship to Fulham for £10.5M.  Moyes has voiced his displeasure at the difficulties of bringing in new players and I’m with him on that one.  Players appear to be fighting to sign for the likes of Tottenham who finished below Everton in the league and didn’t progress as far in the UEFA cup.  Bizarre indeed.

If the worst comes to the worst and no new faces are added to the team sheet then hopes may rest with the products of Evertons youth academy.  Victor Anichebe, James Vaughan initially but the likes of Jack Rodwell and Jose Baxter are likely to be playing more games this season.  With any luck Goodison may also see the unfortunate Andy van der Meyde make a return to the side and hopefully recreate some of the flashes of quality he has shown in his so far fleeting Everton career.

With the squad staying largely the same, the potential formation for the season is likely to be the same as last season, sometimes playing 4-5-1 with Yakubu up front on his own or 4-4-2 with Yakubu and either Anichebe or Vaughan to partner him.  In certain games against certain teams 4-5-1 was used and didn’t work, as Yakubu can often become anonymous when he has to go looking for the ball.  Moyes remedied this by reverting to 4-4-2 and partnering him with the immense Victor Anichebe being the favoured choice.

A lot hinges on the form of the key players if Everton are to recreate last seasons magic.  Avoiding injury is just as important due to the size of the squad that was a factor last season as the challenge for fourth place ebbed away in March after some disappointing results.  I’m confident that Moyes will make at least 2 decent signings in the final week of the window which should go some way to improving the squad.  If we can play the same way and with the same passion and commitment that was shown last season then there is no reason why we cannot continue to challenge for a top four place.  There are a lot of teams that will pose a greater threat to Everton this season, Tottenham in particular, but Moyes learns from his mistakes and will often correct failings from previous experiences so a decent UEFA cup campaign is on the cards.  If Everton can make it to Christmas in a decent position in the league then the January transfer window may hold the key to another successful season with top 4 not out of the Toffees’ reach.

Manager: David Moyes

Assistant Manager: Steve Round

Stadium: Goodison Park (40,569)

2007/08 Position: 5th

2007/08 Record: P-38  W-19  D-8  L-11  GF-55  GA-33  Pts-65

Players in:  Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund)

Players out:  Andy Johnson (Fulham), Lee Carsley (Birmingham), Stefan Wessels (Released), Bjarni Vidarsson (FC Twente), Thomas Gravesen (Celtic), Manuel Fernandes (Valencia), Anthony Gardner (Tottenham).

Possible Line-up: Howard, Baines, Hibbert, Lescott, Yobo, Pienaar, Arteta – van der Meyde, Osman, Neville, Yakubu, Anichebe or Vaughan.

Ref From Dan White - goal.com