Season Preview - Newcastle United

Last season: 13th, 43 points; UEFA Cup last 16; FA Cup third round; Carling Cup fifth round

Transfers:

In: Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, free); Joey Barton (Man City, £5.8m); David Rozenhal (Paris Saint-Germain, £2.9m); Geremi (Chelsea, free); Jose Enrique(Villarreal, €9.3m); Claudio Cacapa (Lyon, free); Alan Smith (Manchester United, €9m)

Out: Scott Parker (West Ham, £7m); Titus Bramble, Antoine Sibierski (both Wigan, free); Lee Clark, Pavel Srnicek, Craig Moore, Olivier Bernard (all released)

Official Website: http://www.nufc.co.uk/

Official Kit:

Newcastle have definitely been one of the biggest under achievers in the Premiership. Though they have featured twice in this decade in the top 4 (4th in 2001-02 and 3rd in 2002-03), it’s been all downhill ever since capping off with a relatively miserable 13th position (2006-07) for a team of their caliber.

The coming of Sam Allardyce will mark a new phase for the Magpies. If he can achieve what he did at Bolton with a pretty ordinary team, at St James’ Park – then Newcastle would definitely be a force to reckon with.

Big Sam has made a couple of pretty good purchases in the summer, with Alan Smith and Joey Barton coming in. Being able to convince Martins and Owen to stick on ensures that they don’t lack fire-power up front. Letting Scott Parker go might still prove to be a big mistake and there are chances Kieron Dyer might be off soon too. Geremi and Rozehnal are trademark Allardyce purchases and both would blossom this season.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

Newcastle kick-off the season against Sam’s old boys Bolton. Things are fine up until the winter holidays – which might not be the happiest for Newcastle this season. October-November brings four home games, but difficult ones in Everton, Tottenham, Portsmouth, and Liverpool. Trips to Reading and Sunderland won't be easy, nor will a game at Blackburn on December 1.

With the New Year comes an even more difficult stretch of games, one that lasts into the beginning of March and will be the phase Sam Allardyce really needs to get things right. Road games at (in order) Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Liverpool, mixed in with home games against Bolton, Middlesbrough, Manchester United, and Blackburn. If Newcastle can survive that and come out of it with good results, they should easily be assured of a UEFA cup berth. It’s not going to be easy though.

EPL08.com prediction:
League Position – 6
Under-achievers for ages - this is finally going to be a season in which the Magpies will redeem themselves to a certain extent. Mainly because of the genius of Sam Allardyce. They'll need the majority of their players to injury-free though!